Hayden Panettiere's mom hits back at Gayle King's 'shameful' comments after daughter's death

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA: Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, criticized Gayle King for publicly commenting on her response following her daughter’s untimely death at 36 on Sunday, August 16.

Vogel described King’s remarks as hurtful and lacking compassion toward a mother who had lost two children, while the investigation into the late actress’ death remains active and ongoing.

Lesley Vogel addresses Gayle King’s criticism after Hayden Panettiere’s death

Vogel told the Daily Mail that she was “very, very hurt and deeply disappointed in the lack of professionalism, the lack of compassion in slamming someone who’s lost two children, without even a modicum of consideration.” “No one reached out to me before. It’s shameful. It’s unconscionable to me,” she added.

Following Panettiere’s death after an apparent overdose, Vogel initially told NBC News that her daughter “was an amazingly talented person in so many departments.” She added that young people who grow up in the entertainment industry face struggles and that it is “not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.”

Vogel also criticized Panettiere's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, who was with the actress when she was found unresponsive at an Airbnb in Greenville, South Carolina. “This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death,” Vogel said.

On CBS Mornings, King repeated Vogel’s statement before criticizing it, “You know, guys, you read this, and all I can think is, ‘Thanks, Mom, for nothing." She added that it made her sad to see the opportunity after a daughter’s death used in that way. 

King, who had spoken with Panettiere in May about her “complicated relationship with her mom,” also criticized Vogel for not following the lead of the 'Nashville' actress' father, Alan "Skip" Panettiere, whose statement described his daughter as an “incredible light and a force of nature.”

Lesley Vogel addresses her estrangement from Hayden Panettiere 

King’s colleagues Kelly O’Grady and Vladimir Duthiers also criticized Vogel’s response. O’Grady said Vogel should have “stopped at "she’s amazing and she’s talented.” Duthiers stressed that Panettiere “cannot respond now” and had spent years publicly acknowledging her own failures and struggles.

He called Vogel’s decision to remind the world of the trauma Panettiere caused “unseemly.” Amid criticism from Holly Robinson Peete and Megyn Kelly, Vogel released another statement addressing her estrangement from her daughter.

“Although my daughter and I were estranged, it was not for lack of care or love,” she told Entertainment Tonight, adding, “It was due to the involvement of a toxic individual who I believe led to her death.”

In May, following the publication of Panettiere’s memoir, 'This Is Me: A Reckoning', Vogel had disputed various claims about their relationship. She told Page Six that she believed “the present drama is partially to sell books” and that, “after 20 years of trauma, I took the advice of professionals and chose the no-contact route” with her daughter.

Vogel also said, “You cannot save someone who does not want to be saved,” describing radical acceptance as “the most difficult challenge any parent must embrace.” Panettiere subsequently told Us Weekly, “We don’t have a relationship right now. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself one day.”