Hayden Panettiere has broken her silence after her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, called her “entitled” ahead of the release of her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
“It was so false,” Panettiere, 36, told Entertainment Tonight of her mom’s statement in an interview published on Monday, May 18. “When people ask me about the relationship, if there’s any hope for the future, I always say I leave that door cracked open in case.”
The Heroes alum continued, “Because who doesn’t want a relationship with their mother? You pray for it and hope it eventually comes. But she slammed that door pretty hard in my face. She has very clearly prioritized herself, which I should not be shocked by.”
Us has reached out to Vogel’s team for comment.
Last week, Vogel released a statement slamming Panettiere’s upcoming book, saying that the allegations that their relationship is rocky were put out to “sell books.”
“There is a personality ‘style’ which manifests as a need for control, entitlement and a lack of empathy,” Vogel told Page Six on Thursday, May 14. “The major fear is that someone will see through the mask they present to the world and discover who they truthfully are.”
Vogel, who previously managed Panettiere’s career, claimed that “this condition cannot be ‘fixed’” regardless of “continual efforts to support” or “comfort,” alleging that there was “20 years of trauma” between them.
Vogel’s remarks came nearly a week after Panettiere exclusively shared in her Us Weekly cover story that she is estranged from her mother.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have a relationship right now,” she explained. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself one day. It’s hard for me to say, but I’ve chosen to be brutally honest.”
In her memoir, which drops on Tuesday, May 19, Panettiere opens up about her struggles in Hollywood. The Nashville alum shared that she felt pushed by her mom during the early days of her career.
“It’s so ingrained in me to be a people pleaser. I went on set, and it was all about being professional, nailing it and always hitting my mark. I had to be perfect. It was nice to hear positive feedback from people like the directors or producers, but without [my mom’s], nothing else mattered,” she claimed to Us ahead of the book’s release. “I felt like I had an identity crisis at 12 years old. I didn’t know who I was.”
