Hayden Panettiere's Estranged Mom Slams 'Entitled' Daughter's Memoir
Hayden Panettiere's estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, has broken her silence on her daughter's upcoming memoir.
"The present drama is partially to sell books," Vogel, 70, told Page Six on Thursday, May 14, referring to comments that Panettiere, 36, has made about their relationship during the press tour for her book, This Is Me: A Reckoning, out May 19.
Vogel continued, "There is a personality ‘style' which manifests as a need for control, entitlement and a lack of empathy. The major fear is that someone will see through the mask they present to the world and discover who they truthfully are."
Vogel added that "this condition cannot be ‘fixed' [regardless of] continual efforts to support [or] comfort."
"This personality style does not accept responsibility for life choices and therefore feels they have no need to alter their behavior," she said of her daughter. "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. No parent hopes for this scenario; we want our children to be the best of themselves and live a peaceful, joyful life!"
Vogel shares Hayden with ex-husband Skip Panettiere, whom she married in 1987. The former spouses, who split in 2008, also shared son Jansen, who died at age 28 in February 2023.
"Sadly, this is out of our control," Vogel continued of her children's lives. "You cannot save someone who does not want to be saved. Radical acceptance is the most difficult challenge any parent must embrace. Unfortunately, I have seen a great deal of such in my life experience."
She added, "When someone leaves, the smear campaign begins; accusations, anger, belittling, gaslighting, etc. are the classic signs of this behavior style. The craving of drama and punitive action is traditional and to be expected."
Vogel concluded that she is on a "personal path to a joyous and peaceful life" and that there is "always that flicker of hope" that Hayden "will find her path to inner peace."
During an appearance on Jay Shetty's eponymous podcast earlier this week, Hayden recalled her decision to "split" from Vogel, who managed her daughter's career since Hayden's childhood.
"I don't want us to work together anymore; I just want you to be my mom," Hayden recalled telling Vogel when she was 19 years old and starring on the sci-fi series Heroes.
She claimed that Vogel responded, "You owe me," which Hayden said she "wasn't expecting" to hear.
"[I felt this] this dark looming cloud over my head going, ‘What does she mean by I owe her? What form of payment is she expecting?'" Hayden continued, claiming that her mom allegedly just wanted "money."
Hayden claimed that although she hoped her relationship with her mother would improve as they stopped working together, Vogel didn't seem to have any interest.
"The fact that it seemed like she didn't want to - didn't care to - have a relationship with me was a tough pill to swallow," she added.
In her cover story for Us Weekly earlier this month, Hayden revealed where she and her mom stand today.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a relationship right now," she exclusively told Us. "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."
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM.