Hayden Penattiere had a troubled relationship with her mother, Lesley Vogel. After her daughter’s death, she has now broken her silence. But it’s a Facebook post she made 48 hours before Hayden’s passing that is now making headlines.
Hayden Panettiere was found dead on Sunday, only 36 years old. The actress had previously spoken openly about her struggles with alcohol and opioid addiction, and now the investigation into her death and the reason behind it is underway.
However, it didn’t take long after her passing that attention turned to a message her mother, Lesley Vogel, shared on Facebook just days before Hayden’s death was announced.
Lesley’s post promoted original prints and wearable art, with proceeds going toward a fund supporting artistic education through the Jansen Rane Panettiere Art Foundation, which she founded in memory of her late son, who died in 2023 at just 28.
But before introducing the artwork, Lesley shared a powerful quote in the post about facing the most difficult parts of yourself.
Leslie Vogel’s Facebook post days before Hayden Panettiere’s death
“If you want to do this, if you want to play big, if you want to really impact lives, you’ve got to face yourself. You’ve got to be courageous and willing to go all in and address everything about you that is uncomfortable,” the quote read.
Lesley did not mention Hayden by name or suggest that the message had anything to do with her daughter. It appeared to be simply an inspirational message related to the foundation’s work.
But following Hayden’s sudden death, the timing of the post has taken on a heartbreaking new meaning.
Just days after Lesley shared those words about courage, self-reflection and confronting painful truths, news broke that her daughter had died at just 36 years old.
There is no indication that the message was intended as a reference to Hayden. However, knowing what happened next surely makes the post difficult to read without seeing it through a very different lens.
Frosty relationship
Hayden Panettiere shared details on her relationship with her mother in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was released just months before her death.
Hayden explained that, at the time, she had chosen to be honest about the situation, noting that she and her mother had not been talking.
The actress also described how difficult it had been growing up with her mother managing her career. As a child star at a very young age, Hayden recalled in an interview with CBS News that her mother dragged her “eight-month-old baby into audition rooms.”
“It went from there and progressed into 50 commercials by the time I was five… It just never stopped,” Panettiere explained.
In May, Hayden Panettiere appeared on On Purpose with Jay Shetty, where she spoke at length about her estranged mother. After working together for pretty much her entire life, Panettiere finally dared to “split” from her mother at 19, whom she called “boss.”
Broke silence after daughter’s passing
However, Lesley Vogel responded, saying that her daughter wasn’t telling the whole story. She added a rather harsh assessment of Hayden’s personality as well, alleging that she had displayed “a need for control, entitlement and a lack of empathy.”
Moreover, Vogel said she was the one who had cut contact after what she described as “20 years of trauma.”
“After 20 years of trauma, I took the advice of professionals and chose the no-contact route. As many parents of entertainment children [know], we are all too familiar with the painful observation of watching the self-destructive paths they sometimes choose,” she said in part at the time.
“No parent hopes for this scenario; we want our children to be the best of themselves and live a peaceful, joyful life!”
Now that Hayden Panettiere has tragically passed away, Lesley Vogel has broken her silence.
“I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments,” Vogel told NBC News. “And I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry – it is a struggle, and it’s a very challenging industry, and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.”
“I wish she had stayed true to herself “
Vogel explained she believed her daughter had “sadly lost her way.”
“I wish it were different. I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes,” she added.
Rest in peace, Hayden Panettiere.
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