Hayden Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, has spoken publicly for the first time since her daughter’s sudden death, blaming Panettiere’s on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson for being with the actress in her final moments and for what she described as years of enabling behavior.
Panettiere, best known for Heroes and Nashville, died on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at age 36, in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. Authorities said she suffered a suspected cardiac arrest. The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said the cause of death remains under investigation in an interview with NBC News, Vogel, 70, named Hickerson, 37, as the person with Panettiere when she died.
“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,” Vogel said.
“There is a lot of history in the past that Brian has enabled Hayden many times and this is why her father and I had been concerned for a long time about him.”
According to a Greenville Police Department report released Tuesday, Hickerson and his brother Zach were inside Panettiere’s apartment at the Judson Mill Lofts when she became unresponsive. Officers arrived at 1:50 p.m. and found paramedics performing CPR.
An officer noted that Zach was “very emotional” during resuscitation efforts, while Hickerson showed no emotion until Panettiere was declared dead. Hickerson later showed police a bag of medication Panettiere had been taking.
Audio from the 911 call described the emergency as a “cardiac arrest.” Sources told TMZ that Narcan, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, was also found on a mattress in the apartment. Police said there were “no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances” and an autopsy found no signs of trauma.
Panettiere and Hickerson dated on and off from 2018 to 2022. The relationship was marked by multiple domestic violence incidents. Hickerson was arrested several times and in 2021 pleaded no contest to injuring a spouse or girlfriend. He was sentenced to 45 days in county jail and four years’ probation.
Panettiere and Hickerson had reportedly reconnected in recent months and were seen together in the weeks before her death. Vogel said she believed they were still together at the time. “I always knew they were together,” she said.
Hickerson and Vogel have publicly clashed before. In May, after Panettiere discussed their relationship in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Hickerson told TMZ: “Hayden’s mother is, by far, one of the worst people I’ve ever met in my life.
Vogel said she last spoke to her daughter in October 2025 and that they had exchanged some texts since, but not recently. She explained that “no-contact was a choice I made for very specific reasons” after what she called 20 years of “trauma, chaos, addictions and accusations.”
“I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace,” Vogel said, breaking down in tears. Panettiere’s younger brother, Jansen, died in 2023 at age 28 from complications related to an enlarged heart and aortic valve. He also struggled with substance abuse.
Vogel said she was concerned about the timing of the 911 call, which came in the early afternoon. “It’s not the typical hour of the day that you are partying, generally speaking,” she said.
She also addressed issues raised in Panettiere’s memoir, including claims that Vogel, who once managed her, discouraged her from speaking publicly about her bisexuality early in her career. Vogel told the Daily Mail in May that she did not believe Panettiere’s sexuality had been hidden.
“I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments,” Vogel said. “Young people who grow up in the entertainment industry, it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry. I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.
Panettiere began acting as a child, appearing in soap operas before roles in Remember the Titans and as the voice of Dot in A Bug’s Life. She rose to prominence as cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes, and later starred for six seasons as Juliette Barnes in Nashville, earning two Golden Globe nominations.
Her film credits include Bring It On: All or Nothing, Raising Helen, Scream 4 and Scream VI. She was also open about her struggles with postpartum depression, alcohol and opiate abuse.
Panettiere had an 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko. In 2018, Panettiere said she made the “difficult decision” to give Klitschko full custody so Kaya could remain in Ukraine, where she has built a life.
The Greenville County Coroner has not released a final cause of death. Police said the investigation is ongoing.Vogel said she has “very little information” while the case is active but expects to speak with a detective.
For Vogel, the loss is a second tragedy in three years. “We each are entitled to choose our path in life,” she said. “There will forever be a lingering hope that she will find her own path to inner peace
