Gayle King blasted Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother after she said the late actress had “lost her way,” questioning why that was the message she chose to share just days after her daughter’s death.
“You know, guys, you read this and all I can think is, ‘Thanks, Mom, for nothing,’” King said during Wednesday’s episode of CBS Mornings.
Lesley Vogel made the comments in an NBC News interview two days after Panettiere died at age 36. Vogel called her daughter “an amazingly talented person in so many departments,” but also spoke about the difficulties of growing up in Hollywood.
Hayden Panettiere's on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother were at the scene of her death, according to a police report obtained Tuesday by CBS News.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 19, 2026
Hickerson and his brother, Zach, made the 911 call that brought first responders to the Greenville, South… pic.twitter.com/kI4PyVWHs5
“I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way,” Vogel said.
King said those words were especially difficult to hear so soon after Panettiere’s death.
“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,” she said.
Panettiere was found unresponsive on August 16 at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, and was pronounced dead. At the time of King’s comments, authorities had not released an official cause of death.
In an interview with Gayle King earlier this year, Hayden Panettiere opened up about being a child actor and the emotional toll it took on her. "I didn't care about anybody else's opinion but my mom's because I knew that if she was unhappy with my performance in any way that the… pic.twitter.com/Px2yM7MrnW
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 17, 2026
The actress had previously spoken about her strained relationship with Vogel, who managed her as a child.
In May, Panettiere said the two were not speaking, but she was leaving “the door open” for a possible reconciliation.