Hayden Panettiere's estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, has raised serious questions about the final hours of her daughter's life, claiming the account she has been given of what happened before the actress was found unresponsive is "full of holes".
The Heroes and Nashville star died aged 36 on August 16 at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina. First responders arrived following a 911 call at around 1.51pm and found Hayden in cardiac arrest. Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead shortly after 2.30pm. An autopsy found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death, while her official cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
Now Lesley, 70, who had a famously complicated relationship with her daughter, has spoken out about what she says she was told about Hayden's final hours with her on-again, off-again partner Brian Hickerson.
© Getty ImagesIn an extensive interview with the Daily Mail, Lesley said she has pushed investigators for answers and questioned the timeline she says Brian gave police.
Brian has not been accused of any crime in connection with Hayden's death and authorities have not announced evidence of foul play. His attorney has asked for privacy while the investigation continues.
Hayden Panettiere's mom questions her final hours
According to Lesley's account, Brian told police that Hayden had been doing her makeup at around 10.30am on the morning of her death before he went out.
Lesley said she was told Brian later returned to the property and went to take a nap. At some point afterwards, his brother Zach reportedly arrived, and Hayden was subsequently found unresponsive.
© GC ImagesIt is that timeline that Lesley is now questioning. "I don't know how you can take a nap near someone who's dying and not realize something's wrong," she told the Daily Mail.
Lesley went on to offer her own theory about what may have happened, but there is currently no evidence publicly available to substantiate it.
Brian's brother Zach has separately given an account of that morning, telling People that Brian attempted to revive Hayden after finding her unconscious and administered Narcan, a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
A police report previously revealed that both Brian and Zach were at the property and were listed in connection with the 911 call. It also stated that Brian showed responding officers a bag containing medication Hayden had been taking.
Investigation into Hayden's death continues
Questions surrounding Hayden's death remain unanswered. Audio from the emergency dispatch obtained by several outlets referred to an apparent overdose, although that has not been established as Hayden's official cause of death. Toxicology results remain pending.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has also reportedly joined the investigation, while Lesley previously told TMZ that she had been informed a narcotics investigator was involved.
© Getty ImagesLesley said she questioned police shortly after her daughter's death about whether the circumstances would be investigated further.
She had already publicly expressed concerns about Brian in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. "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 told NBC News.
"There is a lot of history in the past that Brian has enabled Hayden many times and this is why her father and I had been concerned for a long time about him and frankly, his family," she added.
Hayden and Brian's troubled history
Hayden and Brian were first linked in 2018, and their relationship became increasingly turbulent. Brian was arrested following domestic violence incidents involving the actress and later pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend. He was sentenced to probation and served time in jail.
© MEGAHayden subsequently wrote candidly about the relationship in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was published just months before her death. She detailed years of abuse and her difficulties extricating herself from the relationship, despite interventions from those around her.
Lesley has now described her daughter's relationship with Brian as a deeply unhealthy "codependent bond".
"I would talk to both of them about it," she told the Daily Mail. "I would say, 'This is a codependent relationship, and it is not healthy for either of you.'"
She added: "My sadness is that everything that I did, her father did, friends did, business people did - we could not break that codependent bond. It is so much more powerful than people understand."
Lesley Vogel addresses estrangement from Hayden
The tragedy is further complicated by the fact that mother and daughter were estranged when Hayden died. Hayden offered a painful account of their relationship in her memoir, describing the complicated dynamic that developed after Lesley began managing her career when she was a child.
© WireImageHayden began appearing in commercials as a baby before landing roles in One Life to Live and Guiding Light. By her teens, she was supporting a major Hollywood career that would eventually lead to Heroes and Nashville.
In her memoir, Hayden described feeling as though the relationship with her mother increasingly revolved around her career rather than simply being mother and daughter.
Lesley disputes aspects of her daughter's account. Speaking about putting Hayden into modeling as a baby, she told the Daily Mail that her original intention was simply to put any earnings into a college fund.
"I never expected her to be a professional actor, never," she said. Lesley acknowledged that she could be demanding but denied being abusive, saying: "I was strong, definitely, but I was not abusive by any stretch of the imagination."
Lesley responds to criticism after Hayden's death
The mother-of-two has also hit back at criticism of the comments she made following Hayden's death.
Lesley's initial remarks sparked controversy after she told NBC News that growing up in entertainment could be "a struggle" and said it was "not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path".
Gayle King subsequently criticized the comments on CBS Mornings, while Megyn Kelly delivered an even harsher assessment of Lesley's parenting.
© Getty ImagesLesley has now responded, describing the public condemnation she has faced while grieving as deeply painful. She has also defended herself in a separate statement, saying that despite their estrangement, she "never stopped loving" Hayden.
Her grief comes just three years after the death of Hayden's younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who died aged 28 in 2023 from cardiomegaly and complications involving his aortic valve. "There is infinite sadness," Lesley told the Daily Mail of losing both of her children.
For now, however, she says her focus is on finding answers about Hayden. "This is not the time for me to be weak," she said. "I don't have the luxury right now of being weak. I have too much to do for Hayden."
