Celebrity3 min(s) read
Hayden Panettiere's mom, Lesley Vogel, has issued a new statement following the death of her daughter.
Vogel, Panettiere's former manager who became estranged from her daughter, has received backlash after commenting on the Heroes star's tragic death at age 36.
Known for her roles on the TV hit Nashville as well as the slasher film franchise Scream, Panettiere was found dead inside an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday, August 16.
An investigation into her cause of death is still ongoing.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Vogel said that her daughter was "beautiful and talented young woman who unfortunately became involved with the wrong person.
"Although her family tried to extricate him from her life, we were unable to be successful."
The 70-year-old went on to say: "Although my daughter and I were estranged, it was not for lack of care or love. It was due to the involvement of a toxic individual who I believe led to her death."
While not explicitly naming the "toxic individual," Vogel has previously slammed Panettiere's on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson.
Vogel's new comments come after her first, initial statement issued to the press received some scathing commentary from public figures such as Gayle King.
Originally speaking to NBC News, Vogel focused less on the legacy her daughter's work would leave behind and more on personal matters.
She told the outlet that the pair had been estranged since October and spent a significant part of the interview criticizing Hickerson, who she says was present at the time of Panettiere's death.
However, Gayle King was very clearly not impressed with Vogel's comments, and while covering the story live-on-air, ripped into Panettiere's mother, who was her manager at the start of her career as a child star.
"It makes me so sad of the opportunity that you have after your daughter's death that that's what you choose to leave us with," King said, proferring that Vogel's comments were "sad" and "unseemly."
"'You know, guys, you read this and all I can think is, 'Thanks, Mom, for nothing,'" King said of the statement.
Vogel and her daughter had a famously complicated and nuanced relationship. Vogel, herself a former soap actress, had managed Panettiere's acting career since she was just 8 months old.
In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere claimed that Vogel's role as a mom and manager began to blur significantly as she grew up, and that she ultimately severed their working relationship when she was 19 and beginning to work on Heroes.
Before her death, Panettiere told Us Weekly that she and Vogel "didn't have a relationship right now."
