Hayden Panettiere’s mom discloses heartbreaking ultimatum in their final phone call before actress’ death
Hayden Panettiere's mom is detailing the heartbreaking ultimatum that led to their estrangement months before the actress' death.
In an interview with "Good Morning America," which aired Monday, Lesley Vogel said she and the late actress had become estranged in the months before Panettiere's death after Vogel gave her daughter an ultimatum over her daughter's relationship with on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson.
About a year ago, Vogel traveled to California to stay with Panettiere and help her end her relationship with Hickerson — a decision the "Nashville" star made on her own, Vogel claimed.
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"She knew that Brian was toxic," Vogel said. "She knew she had to get him out of her life."
Vogel said things began to change after about six weeks, when she noticed her daughter slowly pulling away. It was then that she returned home to Florida.
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"When I got the phone call from her saying, ‘I’m going to be with the person I love,’ … I just lost it," Vogel recalled. "I could not believe that she had gone that far back, that he had been successful in reeling her back in with all of the things he had done to her."
Vogel said that, on the advice of her therapist, she told Panettiere that she could no longer speak with her as long as Hickerson remained part of her life.
The decision marked the beginning of their estrangement — something Vogel believed would only be temporary.
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"I needed to have that pocket of time," she said. "Of course, I thought it was going to be a pocket of time. I did not by any stretch of the imagination think that this was going to happen to Hayden."
"I don’t know why, I just didn’t," she added. "Maybe I didn’t want to."
Panettiere was found dead inside a Greenville, South Carolina residence on Aug. 16.
Hickerson and his brother, Zach, called 911 after finding the actress unresponsive, according to a police report obtained by Fox News Digital. Hickerson later gave authorities a bag containing medication Panettiere had been taking, according to the report.
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Preliminary autopsy results found no signs of trauma that contributed to Panettiere’s death, the Greenville County Coroner's Office confirmed to Fox News Digital. However, Panettiere's death remains under investigation.
Fox News has learned the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has also been contacted and is assisting with the investigation.
Vogel told "GMA" that Panettiere lived a very "happy life" until her late teens.
"I would say at about 17, I started seeing her going downhill," Vogel said. "As she got older, and it wasn’t my voice anymore. I wasn’t in charge of her choices."
Panettiere's decision to give up custody of her daughter, Kaya — whom she shared with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko — was a turning point, Vogel said.
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"Vlad had taken over custody, you know, for safety," Vogel said. "In my opinion, that was the catalyst that she just couldn’t keep those demons away."
In an interview with the New York Times, Vogel said her daughter was living with chronic physical pain.
"She was in pain," Vogel said. "She was afraid. She couldn’t physically function properly."
Vogel said she brought Panettiere to multiple doctors and pursued massage and acupuncture treatments to address the "pins and needles" sensation the actress often experienced in her lower extremities.
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Ultimately, Vogel said, she hopes her daughter will be remembered for the "talented, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman" she was.
"She really was," Vogel told "GMA". "But I also want people to understand that it is my belief that she was suffering. Now that doesn't make sense because when you look at a beautiful girl who's got an incredible career, even though it has had its ups and downs, but, you look at that big picture, and you go, 'Why would you be suffering?' People don't understand that you can have, on the exterior, all of this, but that doesn't mean that what's going on in here matches."
Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.