Lesley Vogel Rebukes Critics Over Mourning Hayden Panettiere, Her 2nd Child Lost

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 25

Good Morning America aired Lesley Vogel's response to backlash over how she has publicly grieved Hayden Panettiere, with Vogel saying no one else has the right to define her mourning.
Vogel said she feels numb after Hayden's Aug. 16 death at 36 and urged people to remember her daughter for more than the struggles that marked parts of her public life.
Her reference to Hayden as her "second child" underscored that Vogel also lost son Jansen Panettiere, who died in 2023 at age 28.
The renewed scrutiny has also revived debate over Vogel's estrangement from Hayden, whose 2026 memoir described a strained relationship that Vogel later disputed.
Authorities in Greenville, South Carolina, still have not released Hayden Panettiere's final cause and manner of death, saying further testing is pending and no trauma was found.

Sources

With the DEA involved and cause of death pending, what really happened in Hayden Panettiere's final moments?

Did the toxic pressures of child stardom ultimately seal Hayden's tragic fate long before her sudden death?

Why is the public so quick to judge a grieving mother who outlived both of her children?