The CBS Mornings team didn’t hold back today as they weighed in on the controversial comments made by Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, following the actress’s tragic passing.
During Wednesday’s broadcast, Gayle King, Kelly O’Grady, and Vladimir Duthiers discussed the latest developments surrounding the 36-year-old star’s death. The conversation took a sharp turn when King read aloud remarks Vogel gave to NBC News, in which she claimed her daughter “sadly lost her way” and that she wished she “stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.”
The reaction from the table was immediate and pointed. “You know, guys, you read this and all I can think is, ‘Thanks, Mom, for nothing,’” King said.
Duthiers echoed that sentiment, noting the actress’s history of transparency. “I mean, Hayden Panettiere spent years publicly acknowledging her own failures, her own struggles. She did it with you in that interview. She cannot respond now, and for her mother to use these days after Hayden’s death to just remind the world just how much trauma she caused, it’s unseemly.”
King pointed out that Panettiere had previously opened up about having a “complicated relationship with her mom,” adding, “You hear stuff like that and you realize it was still very much [a work] in progress. 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.”
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O’Grady chimed in, suggesting that Vogel should have “stopped at ‘she’s amazing and she’s talented,’” while Duthiers added, “You would hope a mother’s instinct is just mourn your daughter.” King agreed, suggesting she should have “follow[ed] the lead of your partner, the father of her child.”
The contrast in tone was stark compared to the statement released by Hayden’s father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere, just days earlier. He remembered his daughter as “an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”
In her interview, Vogel had described Hayden as “an amazingly talented person in so many departments,” but doubled down on her stance regarding the entertainment industry. “I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry, it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path,” she said. “I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different. I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.”
Vogel concluded by saying she felt Hayden was “with her brother and they’re at peace,” referencing the 2023 passing of Hayden’s younger brother, Jansen.