Hayden Panettiere says her mom’s claims that she’s 'entitled' and lacks empathy are 'so false'

Hayden Panettiere responded to her mom's claims she's "entitled" and lacks empathy.

Key Points

• Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, said last week that she's suffered "20 years of trauma" due to her actions.

• Panettiere said she doesn't know how her estranged mom lives with what she did and said to her.

Hayden Panettiereis clapping back at her estranged mom and former manager, Lesley Vogel, after she called her "entitled" amid the release of the actress's memoir,This Is Me: A Reckoning.

TheNashvillealum toldEntertainment Tonighton Monday thather mom's statement about her booklast week was "so false."

Vogel toldPage Sixthat she's suffered "20 years of trauma" due to Panettiere's "'personality style' which manifests as a need for control, entitlement, and a lack of empathy. The major fear is that someone will see through the mask they present to the world and discover who they truthfully are."

"When people ask me about the relationship, if there's any hope for the future, I always say that I leave that door cracked open in case because who doesn't want a relationship with their mother? You pray for it and you hope it eventually comes, but she slammed that door pretty hard in my face," Panettiere said in response to Vogel's statements.

"She has very clearly prioritized herself, which I should not be shocked by. I can't imagine how she feels about doing what she did and saying what she said. I don't know how she lives with that," Panettiere continued.

While Vogel did not directly name her daughter toPage Six, she said on May 14 that "this condition cannot be 'fixed'" and "this personality style does not accept responsibility for life choices and therefore feels they have no need to alter their behavior."

Vogel continued, "After 20 years of trauma, I took the advice of professionals and chose the no-contact route. As many parents of entertainment children [know], we are all too familiar with the painful observation of watching the self-destructive paths they sometimes choose. No parent hopes for this scenario; we want our children to be the best of themselves and live a peaceful, joyful life!"

"Sadly, this is out of our control," Vogel added. "You cannot save someone who does not want to be saved. Radical acceptance is the most difficult challenge any parent must embrace. Unfortunately, I have seen a great deal of such in my life experience."

Vogel said she's not surprised that Panettiere has chosento air out their estrangementin the press, noting that "when someone leaves, the smear campaign begins; accusations, anger, belittling, gaslighting, etc. are the classic signs of this behavior style. The craving of drama and punitive action is traditional and to be expected.”

In her memoir, Panettiere pulls back the curtain on her Hollywood experience and gets candid about substance abuse, postpartum depression, and child stardom — including her experience having her mom double as her boss.

After years of working together, Panettiere severed professional ties with Vogel when she was 19 while filming the superhero seriesHeroes.

"I said to her, 'I don’t want us to work together anymore. I just want you to be my mom,'" Panettiere recalled on theOn Purposepodcaston May 11.

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She was surprised by the response this declaration received.

"I remember being hopeful. But I also wasn’t expecting the reaction that I got, which was, 'You owe me,'" theRemember the Titansactress shared. "And that’s all she said. And she walked out."

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Panettiere said that while she was "relieved" that the conversation was short, she was also haunted by Vogel's comment.

"'What does she mean by I owe her? What form of payment is she expecting?'" Panettiere remembered thinking. "It was disappointing to find out that it was money."

She added: "The fact that it seemed like she didn’t want to — didn’t care to — have a relationship with me was a tough pill to swallow."

Panettiere has been candid about her journey to sobriety after struggling with alcohol and opioid addiction. She also suffered postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, in 2014 and relinquished custody to her ex-fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

Hayden's brother, Jansen Panettiere, also struggled with substance abuse and died unexpectedly at age 28 in 2023, having suffered from an enlarged heart and aortic valve complications.

Panettiere toldEntertainment Weeklythat writing about Jansen's death was the hardest part of the memoir process.

"I just finished the audiobook of it, and I couldn't get through the end of the book and the things I say to Jansen," Hayden toldEWon May 12. "I was completely choked up. That was really hard for me to say it out loud, to go through it. Until you read your words out loud, for whatever reason it doesn't have the same emotional effect on you."

This Is Me: A Reckoningis out now.

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