\n<\/p>\n
\nHayden Panettiere\u2019s estranged mother and former manager, Lesley Vogel, speaks out after the actor’s death at 36 years old:<\/p>\n
“Young people who grow up in the entertainment industry \u2014 it is a struggle and it\u2019s a very challenging industry and it\u2019s not unusual for them to sadly\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/7FsffbNe9o<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Variety (@Variety) August 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In a phone interview with NBC News on Tuesday (August 18) Vogel said, \u201cI think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry \u2014 it is a struggle and it\u2019s a very challenging industry and it\u2019s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel that she\u2019s with her brother and they\u2019re at peace,\u201d added Vogel.<\/p>\n
She also called out Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. \u201cThis 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,\u201d Vogel said. \u201cThere 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,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was business,\u201d Panettiere recalled during The Jay Shetty Podcast<\/a><\/i>. \u201cI became the confidant and the assistant and the therapist and the shoulder to cry on and everything but her child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panettiere said that while filming Heroes at 19, she told Vogel that she wanted to end their professional relationship in hopes of rebuilding their bond as mother and daughter. \u201cI said to her, \u2018I don\u2019t want us to work together anymore. I just want you to be my mom,\u2019 \u201d she recalled. According to Panettiere, Vogel responded, \u201cYou owe me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She told Us Weekly in May: \u201cUnfortunately, we don\u2019t have a relationship right now. But that doesn\u2019t mean that I don\u2019t leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself one day.\u201d<\/p>\n