Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mom is opening up about how the late actress allegedly felt after relinquishing full custody of her daughter.
“The situation with Hayden and [Wladimir Klitschko] and their daughter, that was a very difficult period for her,” Lesley Vogel said during a sit-down interview that aired on Good Morning America Monday, August 24. “Wlad had taken over custody for safety.”
Panettiere and former fiancé Klitschko welcomed daughter Kaya in December 2014 and split four years later. While Panettiere struggled with postpartum depression and alcohol and opioid addiction, she chose to relinquish full custody of her daughter. Kaya subsequently relocated to Ukraine to stay with her father full-time.
“By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me and selfish of me to try to pull her out away from this life that she had created,” Panettiere shared on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast in May.
Vogel, 70, claimed her daughter grappled with turmoil over the weight of that decision.
“In my opinion, that was the catalyst that she just couldn’t keep those demons away,” Vogel said on Monday. “I think she struggled and Brian [Hickerson] came into her life. She was vulnerable.”
After separating from Klitschko, Panettiere began dating her on-again, off-again ex Hickerson in 2018. News broke earlier this month that Panettiere died in South Carolina. She was 36.
Panettiere’s cause of death has yet to be confirmed but an autopsy showed “no signs of trauma” that contributed to her death. A local police report claimed that Brian and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were present at the scene where she died.
“Hayden’s death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” Brian’s attorney Sloan Ellis told Us in a statement on Thursday, August 20. “As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play. Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”
Zach claimed one day later that he and his brother tried to save Hayden’s life.
“When we went in and tried to wake Hayden up for lunch, we realized she was unconscious,” he alleged to TMZ on Friday, August 21. “I immediately called 911, and Brian gave her Narcan. We then jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived. At that point, we watched as they tried every measure possible to save her life.”
Vogel has since refuted the claims and told the Daily Mail on Saturday, August 22, that Brian is allegedly “culpable” for her daughter’s death. In her tell-all interview with Good Morning America on Monday, Vogel claimed that Panettiere knew Brian was “toxic.” Vogel alleged that she flew out to be with her daughter one year before her death and stayed for six weeks before learning that Panettiere had rekindled with Brian.
“When I got the phone call from her saying, ‘I’m going to be with the person I love.’ … I just lost it,” Vogel recalled. “I could not believe that she had gone that far back, that he had been successful in reeling her back in, with all of the things he had done to her.”
Vogel subsequently took the advice of her therapist and gave Panettiere an ultimatum about her relationship with Brian, saying she wouldn’t speak to the actress if he was back in her life.
“I needed it. I needed to have that pocket of time,” Vogel said on Monday. “I did not by any stretch of the imagination think that this was going to happen to Hayden. … Maybe I didn’t want to.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
