Hayden Panettiere‘s estranged mother Lesley Vogel is continuing to speak out following the death of the beloved actress.
In a new one-hour interview with the Daily Mail, she made some claims about Hayden‘s on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson, praised her daughter’s ex Wladmir Klitschko, hit back at criticism of her initial statement, and explained why she put her daughter into show business.
We have compiled some of the highlights from the interview.
On grieving the death of her daughter
Lesley opened up about the “infinite sadness” that she’s experiencing and how she’s trying to stay strong because of the investigation.
“This is not the time for me to be weak. I don’t have the luxury right now of being weak. I have too much to do for Hayden. When I’m done with that, then I will give myself the luxury to mourn – deeply mourn,” Lesley told the Daily Mail.
She added, “I’m not saying I’m not grieving now. I am, and I do have my moments. But the bigger picture right now is I have to stay strong. I don’t have an option.”
Questions she has about Brian Hickerson and the final moments of Hayden’s life
It has been reported that Brian was taking a nap in their Airbnb in South Carolina. His brother Zach Hickerson claims that he tried to get ahold of the couple, but couldn’t reach them. He says he went to the apartment, was let inside by Brian, and they discovered Hayden‘s unconscious body together.
Lesley told Daily Mail, “I don’t know how you can take a nap near someone who’s dying and not realize something’s wrong. How do you do that? When the EMTs came it was for a cardiac arrest. People in cardiac arrest aren’t just lying still. They make noise. I think Brian called his brother. My opinion. I think he knew she was deceased. Called his brother, and tried and built this story.”
She says she “wants justice.”
Read everything that Zach said in his full account of what happened when he arrived to the apartment.
Responding to criticism from Gayle King, Megyn Kelly, and more in response to her initial statement
Many people felt that the initial comments Lesley made after Hayden‘s death were cold and heartless.
Gayle King said, “You know, guys, you read this and all I can think is, ‘Thanks, Mom, for nothing.’ It makes me so sad of the opportunity that you have after your daughter’s death that that’s what you choose to leave us with.”
Lesley told Daily Mail in response, “I 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.”
Lesley had nothing but praise for Hayden’s ex Wladimir Klitschko and their daughter Kaya
Lesley said, “Her child’s father is Wladimir Klitschko. He is one of the most exceptional people I’ve ever met… He has people surrounding [Kaya] who are very positive and supportive. So I’m not worried about Kaya.”
“This child is exceptional,” Lesley said. “I mean, she’s an amazing human being. She’s 11 years old, speaks five languages. She’s a hunter jumper and wins.”
Lesley said that she’s “grateful” that Hayden‘s estate will likely go to Kaya.
She called Brian Hickerson a “loser” and has a theory why Hayden ended up with him
Hayden‘s mom thinks that her daughter ended up with a “loser” because she couldn’t handle being around such a great man.
She said, “When you’re not feeling good about yourself, you don’t want to be with someone who makes you feel worse about yourself. So she found a loser. So every day she didn’t feel like she was failing, and he latched onto that and I suppose said everything to her she needed to hear.”
Lesley claimed to Daily Mail that Brian had “no career” and “no money” and was supported by Hayden.
“I know he put pressure on. I know he threatened. I know he did a lot of things,” she said.
Lesley says she went no-contact with Hayden because of Brian Hickerson
Lesley claims that she lost touch with Hayden after Brian came into her life.
“When Brian came into her life, the changes started to occur. Very early in the game, I thought he’s a modern-day gigolo. I know what he’s after,” Lesley told Daily Mail, adding that drugs entered their lives and they became co-dependent.
“I would talk to both of them about it. I would say, ‘This is a codependent relationship, and it is not healthy for either of you,’” Lesley said. “My sadness is that everything that I did, her father did, friends did, business people did – we could not break that codependent bond. It is so much more powerful than people understand.”
Lesley added, “When Hayden comes out and talks trash about Mom, it’s because I had to break away.”
“I had to go no contact because I could not help her anymore. I could not change this pattern, and believe me, I tried. I didn’t leave because I didn’t care about her or didn’t love her. I put so much effort in trying to save her. You cannot save someone who doesn’t want to be saved,” she said.
Why Lesley put Hayden into show business
Lesley claims that she just intended to get some money to put in Hayden‘s college fund, but that Hayden wanted to continue with her career.
She told Daily Mail, “She started with Wilhelmina at eight months old because she’s a beautiful baby. I mean, really beautiful baby. My thought then was, let her do some stuff, we’ll put it in her college fund, and she’ll go to college and she’ll have this. I never expected her to be a professional actor, never.”
Lesley doesn’t think she was abusive to Daily Mail amid her career, but acknowledged that she was demanding. She said, “I was strong, definitely, but I was not abusive by any stretch of the imagination.”
“I think that Hayden put a pressure on herself. I know that she has mentioned, you know, always had to please Mom, or make sure it was, you know, I succeeded or whatever. I didn’t put that on her. I think she put that on herself,” she said. “Try making a two-to five-year-old child do something they don’t want to do. Are you going to be successful? No, you’re not. Probably 99 percent of the time.”
You can read more from the interview at Dailymail.com.
The post Hayden Panettiere’s Mom Gives 1-Hour Interview to Daily Mail: Everything She Said, Including Claims About Brian Hickerson appeared first on Just Jared – Celebrity News and Gossip | Entertainment.