Lesley Vogel, the mother of Hayden Panettiere, has spoken publicly for the first time following the shocking death of her estranged daughter at age 36.
Vogel, 70, strongly criticized Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, 37, a convicted felon who was identified in a newly released police report as being with the actress when she died Sunday in Greenville, South Carolina, from a suspected overdose.
Speaking to NBC News, Vogel said, “This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death and that was Brian Hickerson.”
She went on to reflect on her daughter’s gifts and the pressures of fame, saying, “I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.”
Vogel added, “I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different. I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.”
The grieving mother became emotional as she also spoke about the 2023 death of her son, Jansen, who was just 28. “I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace,” Vogel said through tears.
Hayden Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, has spoken out for the first time after her estranged daughter’s shocking death at 36.
Vogel criticized Panettiere’s on-off boyfriend and convicted felon Brian Hickerson, who was reportedly with her when she died from a suspected overdose on Sunday; the pair are pictured in 2018.
Vogel is grieving the loss of her second child – three years after son Jansen died aged just 28 – pictured 2019 – and said ‘I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace’
Weighing in on the timing of the 911 call on Sunday that her daughter was in ‘cardiac arrest’ Vogel said she concerned because it’s ‘not the typical hour of the day that you are partying, generally speaking.’
Vogel last spoke to her daughter in October, and said they had been ‘texting a bit since then, but not in some time.’
‘No-contact was a choice I made for very specific reasons and, you know, certainly not for lack of care, concern, love’ Vogel added.
She said she had ‘very little information as the investigation was ongoing but that she would be speaking with a detective.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Vogel for further comment.
Hickerson and his brother were inside Panettiere’s apartment when the actress suffered a suspected fatal heart attack on Sunday, police said on Tuesday.
Hickerson and his brother Zach witnessed her final moments in the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex, according to a newly released report from the Greenville Police Department.
An officer at the scene said Zach was ‘very emotional’ as he saw paramedics perform CPR, but added Hickerson did not show any emotion until his partner was declared dead.
Brian Hickerson allegedly then showed police a ‘bag of medication’ that Panettiere had been taking at the time of her death, kept inside the apartment complex where she was temporarily staying.
The heavily redacted police report said officers arrived at 1.50pm, and officers found multiple EMS and firemen performing CPR for ‘an extended amount of time’ on the actress, ‘who did not seem to have any obvious physical reasons to be unresponsive.’
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office has said Panettiere’s cause of death remains under investigation, however audio of the 911 call from her apartment showed a dispatcher described it as a ‘cardiac arrest.’
A dispatcher could be heard in the audio saying that Panettiere had suffered a suspected overdose, and sources told TMZ that Narcan – a nasal medication used to treat an opioid overdose – was also found on a mattress at the property.
Vogel and Hickerson have a tumultuous history – in May Hickerson slammed Vogel amid a public clash over allegations the actress writes about in her forthcoming memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
‘I do have some things to say about Hayden’s mom: Hayden’s mother is, by far, one of the worst people I’ve ever met in my life,’ Hickerson told TMZ. ‘I just can’t with her – she’s terrible.’
The Heroes star’s on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson was in the apartment where she died alongside his brother Zach (seen together)
Vogel told NBC News, ‘This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death and that was Brian Hickerson’ – pictured with Panettiere in 2007
Panettiere previously said she got ‘brutally honest’ in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning about her mother pushing her too hard and doubling as her manager
An officer at the scene said Zach was ‘very emotional’ as he saw paramedics perform CPR, but added Hickerson did not show any emotion until his partner was declared dead
The topic that has sparked resentment was Panettiere stating that she had always been bisexual – having preferred females to males ‘a very, very young age’ – but was discouraged from letting others know.
The Heroes star said Vogel, who managed her at one point, had encouraged her to keep it to herself, so it wouldn’t impact her career negatively.
In May Vogel told Our News Outlet she was skeptical about the timing and suggested her daughter’s sexuality was not really a secret.
Reacting to her daughter’s public declaration, Vogel said: ‘I do not believe it was being hidden, but there is no historic proof that this is the case.
‘I do think the timing of this coming out is very interesting.’
She added that her estrangement from her daughter was a ‘recent occurrence,’ claiming it began around ‘mid-September’ of 2025.
‘We each are entitled to choose our path in life,’ Vogel said. ‘After 20 years of trauma, chaos, addictions [and] accusations, I felt I had no other option but to choose no contact.’
She added: ‘There will forever be a lingering hope that she will find her own path to inner peace.’
Panettiere previously said she got ‘brutally honest’ in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning about her mother pushing her too hard and doubling as her manager.
‘I was so scared of her that approaching her and being honest about my feelings [back then] was not going to get me any positive reaction. This is my way of doing it.’
She also dove into her struggles with substance abuse, postpartum depression and the sudden loss of her younger brother, Jansen, who unexpectedly died in 2023. He was 28.
He suffered from an enlarged heart and aortic valve complications. Before his death, he too struggled with substance abuse. Panettiere, for her part, has struggled with alcohol and opiate abuse.
‘I was shocked that it had gotten that bad,’ she said, referencing her brother’s use of crack and heroin. ‘When he said that he had put those two substances in his body, I was floored. I should have understood better than anybody what he was going through. And of all the people that could have saved him from passing away, it should have been me.’
Panettiere died in the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina (pictured) where she was temporarily staying
With her brother gone and her mother estranged, the actress said she was close to her father, Alan Lee ‘Skip’ Panettiere, and her stepmother, Mekdem.
‘My dad and I have a great relationship,’ she told the publication. ‘I actually went and lived with him and my stepmom for a while, where I was born and raised in Rockland County, and felt like being at home re-grounded me. Being around family reminded me of who I am at my core.’
Panettiere first began dating Hickerson in 2018, however their on-off relationship became tumultuous as he was arrested several times on domestic violence charges.
Panettiere had spoken of her troubled childhood in the spotlight in recent months, and revealed intimate details of her relationship with Hickerson in her memoir published three months before her death.
She was mother to an 11-year-old daughter with her ex-partner Wladimir Klitschko, a former boxer turned Ukrainian government official who has full custody of the youngster.
In her memoir, titled ‘This Is Me: A Reckoning’, Panettiere alleged that Hickerson once beat her so severely that she had to remain in her house for weeks to keep her injuries from the public.
She said she tried to keep the alleged abuse from the police because she feared the public would find out, and described her relationship as a ‘very dark and complicated time in my life.’
In one incident, Hickerson was arrested in May 2019, and court records show he was charged with injuring a spouse or girlfriend. He pleaded no contest to the allegations in April 2021, and he was sentenced to 45 days in county jail and four years’ probation.
Just three days before Panettiere’s death, Hickerson had a request to reduce his past felony charges denied by a judge.
Panettiere’s relationship with Hickerson appeared to end in 2020, and in July of that year she filed for a restraining order against him. The outcome of her request is not stated on court records.
The Greenville Police Department said in a statement that ‘the preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances’, and an autopsy found ‘no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.’
Panettiere died aged 36 on Sunday after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest in a South Carolina apartment complex
Panettiere had an 11-year-old daughter called Kaya following a life-threatening birth, who she welcomed with former fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko – pictured 2010
In 2018, following her split from Klitschko, 50, Panettiere announced she had made the ‘difficult decision’ to sign full custody to her ex, meaning Kaya would move to his native Ukraine
Discussing the prospect of bringing her daughter back, Hayden insisted that she would not want to take her away from her ‘incredible’ life in Ukraine. She said: ‘By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me to, and selfish of me to try to pull her out of this life that she had been creating’
The star and her on-off real estate agent boyfriend were said to have flown from Los Angeles to South Carolina, where he is from, one day before she died.
Panettiere had an 11-year-old daughter called Kaya following a life-threatening birth, but later gave full custody to her former fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
The star began acting as a child, appearing in soap operas, then gained wider recognition for her role in the 2000 sports drama Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington, and as the voice of Dot in Pixar’s 1998 film A Bug’s Life.
Panettiere later found fame playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in the superhero drama Heroes before starring as country singer Juliette Barnes for six seasons on Nashville.
She earned two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress on the show, while her singing produced 11 entries on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
Panettiere’s film credits include 2006’s Bring It On: All or Nothing, the comedy-drama film Raising Helen, and appearances in Scream 4 and Scream VI as Kirby Reed.
