Panettiere's Mom to 'Haters': Don't Tell Me How to Grieve

Lesley Vogel is pushing back on how the "haters" think she should grieve her daughter. In a Good Morning America interview that aired on Monday, the estranged mother of Hayden Panettiere said critics "don't have a right to tell me how I mourn the loss of my second child," calling that "my domain," per People. Vogel, whose son Jansen died in 2023, described feeling "numb" after learning that Hayden, 36, had died in South Carolina on Aug. 16, noting that she still struggles to accept that her daughter's death happened.

"I still am not grasping this is real," she said. "My mind tells me it's not at times. It's gonna be a process." The former manager also disputed a key anecdote from Panettiere's 2026 memoir, in which the actor wrote that, at age 19, she told her mom she no longer wanted her managing her career, to which Vogel allegedly responded, "You owe me." Vogel said she recalls a brief conversation in which she mostly remained silent and insists, "I know I didn't say what she said I said."

Vogel traced her daughter's troubles to her late teens, saying she saw a decline after Panettiere became the lead on Heroes at age 16 and gained more independence. Vogel said she wants Hayden remembered as the "talented, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman she really was." Vogel has also been making the rounds with other outlets, telling the New York Times that Panetierre's on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson, who was with Panetierre when she died, had pawned some of her daughter's belongings.

Vogel also recently revealed she was furious at some high-profile names for attacking her in the wake of her daughter's death. CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, for example, slammed Vogel for focusing too much on Panetierre's struggles, per The Hollywood Reporter, while ex-Fox News pundit Megyn Kelly said, regarding Vogel: "You failed at your job ... You got an 'F' as a parent." Vogel's response, to the Daily Mail: "I was very, very hurt and deeply disappointed in the lack of professionalism, the lack of compassion in slamming someone who's lost two children, without even a modicum of consideration." USA Today has the latest on what we know about Panetierre's death. An autopsy found no signs of trauma; an official cause of death hasn't been released.