Gayle King weighed in after Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, broke her silence on her daughter’s sudden death at 36.
“You know, guys, you read this and all I think is, ‘Thanks, Mom, for nothing,’” King, 71, stated on the Wednesday, August 19, broadcast of CBS Mornings, discussing Vogel’s recent statement about Panettiere’s death with her coanchors.
King addressed the matter while joined by fellow CBS personalities Kelly O’Grady and Vladimir Duthiers.
Vogel, who was Panettiere’s manager when she was a child actor, spoke out for the first time on the Nashville alum’s death on Tuesday, August 18.
“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,” Vogel, 70, told NBC News, in part, via a statement. “I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.”
Vogel and her ex-husband, Skip Panettiere, shared daughter Hayden and son Jansen, who died in 2023 at the age of 28 after an undiagnosed heart condition.
“I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace,” Vogel added to the outlet.
Hayden died on Sunday, August 16, and is survived by her parents and her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya. The Ice Princess star had previously been candid about her fractured relationship with Vogel.
“I mean, Hayden Panettiere spent years publicly acknowledging her own failures, her own struggles,” Duthiers, 56, noted on Wednesday. “She cannot respond now, and for her mother to use these days after Hayden’s death to just remind the world just how much trauma she caused, it’s unseemly.”
As for King, she further remembered how Hayden acknowledged her “complicated” relationship with Vogel was a “work in progress” during their studio interview months earlier in May.
“You hear stuff like that and you realize it was still very much in progress,” King stated. “It makes me so sad that, of the opportunity that you have after your daughter’s death, that’s what you choose to leave us with.”
King also thought that Vogel should have “followed the lead” of Wladimir Klitschko, who is the father of Hayden’s daughter.
Klitschko, 50, shared a social media tribute after Hayden’s death.
“Our family is going through a time of profound shock and grief. The announcement of Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply,” the retired boxer wrote on Tuesday. “She left this world far too soon. Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter, Kaya.”
He continued, “She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives. To our daughter Kaya, I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person she was.”
Klitschko also extended his “deepest condolences” to Hayden’s parents, her friends and her fans.
“Young and talented people like Hayden should not leave this world so soon,” he concluded. “I ask everyone to please respect our family’s feelings and privacy during this incredibly difficult time. For now, this is all I wish to say. Thank you to everyone who is supporting my family and expressing their sincere condolences. Rest easy, Hayden. May you find eternal peace.”
