Hollywood reacts to the sudden death of Hayden Panettiere, criticizing her estranged mother's response to the tragedy

Hayden Panettiere/Instagram

Actress Hayden Panettiere died on Sunday, August 16, five days shy of her 37th birthday. The star was found unresponsive at a Greenville, South Carolina, apartment while out of town with her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson.

Brian’s brother, Zach Hickerson, told TMZ that they found her unresponsive and gave her Narcan (drug overdose reversal medication) and performed CPR to bring her back to consciousness, while waiting for the paramedics.

Zach, Hayden’s mother, Lesley Vogel, and her former fiancé, boxer Wladimir Klitschko, have all made public statements about her death via social media.

The investigation into her cause of death is ongoing. However, allegations regarding the 36-year-old's struggles with drug and alcohol abuse are being cited as contributing factors to her death.

In an interview with the On Purpose Podcast in May, the actress explained that she worked extremely hard to create a life in the entertainment industry for herself and "burnt" it all to the ground. She warned the host, "Don't believe what you see in a picture; there's so much more going on...so much more." This episode discussed addiction, losing custody of her daughter, the cost of fame, her memoir, sexual exploitation, and more.

During her interview, the actress confirmed she began struggling with addiction as a teen. She said she longed to have a normal childhood and desperately tried to fit into two different worlds: a "normal" child world and the world of entertainment, all while trying to grow and develop normally.

Hayden said she grew up feeling as if the parent-child roles were reversed in her household. The Nashville actress explained that during her youth, her mother, who was her manager, told her the corporation she set up for her paid for their family's cars and cell phone bills because it was a tax write-off. She said, "I was working hard, making money, and this money was going towards things that I wasn't privy to." The former child star described her youth as years of a "strange," "uncomfortable-role reversal" with her parents, where she desperately wanted to feel like the kid.

The Remember the Titans actress told the podcast that her mother put her in the entertainment business when she was eight months old. This partnership eventually led to a strained relationship between the pair, especially after she decided to fire her mother at 19, in an effort to experience a normal parent-child relationship. Hayden said, "She was my boss, that's how I saw her." "Everything was business...everything was business focused."

Several celebrities, including Gayle King, Holly Robinson Peete, and others, have criticized Hayden's mother's seemingly apathetic response about her daughter's death. While speaking to NBC News, Leslie stated, "I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments, and 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."

Actress Holly Robinson Peete, who like Hayden, was also managed by her mother said Leslie's response to Hayden's death "Felt so inappropriately cold, I couldn’t stay quiet." Holly continued, “We know this young lady clearly had so many issues, but if you're not gonna take accountability for the fact that you put her in the business that eventually messed her up, then nothing you say has any integrity.”

When Hayden's mother responded to the public backlash, she said, “There is infinite sadness. But this is not the time for me to be weak. She continued, “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. 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. She continued, “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.”

Yet, many celebrities have paid tribute to the fallen star and honored her talent, Solange Knowles, who starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing with Hayden, shared on social media, “i salute your journey and i honor the work we created together that became something that really means something to people … reaching people we couldn’t have ever imagined at the time, as two young girls, trying to keep looking to the light,” she continued. “the light surrounds you now. rest easy hayden.”

Hayden was in over 25 feature films and five television series during her career. She leaves behind one daughter and her parents.

This story will be updated.

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