Lesley Vogel, mother of the late actress Hayden Panettiere, has spoken about the estrangement that occurred between them, stemming from an ultimatum Vogel gave her daughter. Vogel told "Good Morning America" that a year prior to Panettiere's death, she had assisted her daughter in attempting to leave an abusive relationship with Brian Hickerson, whom Panettiere had been linked to since 2018.
Vogel recounted that Panettiere recognized Hickerson as "toxic" and expressed a desire to end the relationship. Vogel was with Panettiere in California, but after about six weeks, she noticed her daughter pulling away. Vogel attributed this distance to Panettiere reconciling with Hickerson. "When I got the phone call from her saying, 'I'm going to be with the person I love,' I just lost it," Vogel said. "I could not believe that she had gone that far back, that he had been successful in reeling her back in."
Following advice from her therapist, Vogel issued an ultimatum: she could not be part of Panettiere's life as long as she remained with Hickerson. Vogel stated, "I needed to have that pocket of time." She admitted she believed the separation would be brief and did not anticipate the eventual outcome.
Hickerson and his brother were with Panettiere when she died at the age of 36 in an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. In her first interview following her daughter's death, Vogel named Hickerson, saying, "This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death and that was Brian Hickerson." Panettiere herself detailed aspects of her relationship with Hickerson in her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," writing that he had once injured her face so severely that she avoided leaving her home for weeks.
A lawyer for Brian Hickerson, Sloan Ellis, released a statement noting that Hayden Panettiere's death is still under investigation and that police have reported no signs of foul play. "As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play," the statement said.
![Hayden Panettiere, Jansen Panettiere and Lesley Vogel arrive at a screening of "Sharkwater Extinction" on Jan. 31, 2019.]( "From left: Hayden Panettiere, Jansen Panettiere and Lesley Vogel arrive at a screening of "Sharkwater Extinction" on Jan. 31, 2019.")