Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother is publicly challenging her daughter’s boyfriend’s account of the actress’s final hours.
Lesley Vogel, 70, said on Saturday that Brian Hickerson’s timeline of Panettiere’s last day is “full of holes.” The “Nashville” alum, 36, was found dead on Aug. 16 at an Airbnb in Greenville, South Carolina, where she had been staying with Hickerson, her on-again, off-again boyfriend.
According to Vogel, Hickerson told police he left the rental at 10:30 a.m. While Panettiere was doing her makeup, ran an errand, returned and took a nap without further interaction with her. Vogel claimed Hickerson then said his brother, Zach Hickerson, knocked at the door, and after Brian answered, Panettiere was found unresponsive.
“I don’t know how you can take a nap near someone who’s dying and not realize something’s wrong,” Vogel said. “When the EMTs came it was for a cardiac arrest. People in cardiac arrest aren’t just lying still. They make noise.”
She believes Brian “knew she was deceased” and “called his brother and … built this story.”
Zach Hickerson offered a different version to the outlet last week. “I knocked loudly which apparently woke Brian up from a nap they were both taking on the pull out couch bed in the living room,” he said. “When we went in and tried to wake Hayden up for lunch, we realized she was unconscious.”
“I immediately called 911 and Brian gave her Narcan,” Zach continued. “We then jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived. At that point, we watched as they tried every measure possible to save her life.”
Vogel expressed particular doubt about the Narcan. “I do not believe he happened to have two bottles of Narcan on him, like he carried them around in his back pocket,” she said. “I think there will be a discrepancy in the timeline, meaning Brian had to go out and buy the Narcan while he left her there.”
Brian’s lawyer, Sloan Ellis, declined to address Vogel’s specific claims, saying they would not be commenting beyond their initial statement. That statement, released last week, noted that “Hayden’s death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed,” Ellis added, “As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play,” and said there would be “no further comment at this time” out of respect for Panettiere’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation.
Vogel has been vocal about her distrust of Hickerson since Panettiere’s death. In her initial statement, she wrote, “This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson.” Days later, she added, “Although my daughter and I were estranged, it was not for lack of care or love. It was due to the involvement of a toxic individual who I believe led to her death.”
In the viral moment that first drew widespread attention, Vogel gave her first televised interview on “Good Morning America” Monday, revealing she had issued her daughter an ultimatum in their final conversation. Panettiere had told her mother she was going to “be with the person [she] love[d],” Vogel said, “I just lost it. I could not believe she had gone that far back, that he had been successful in reeling her back in with all the things he had done to her.”
The former child star detailed the abusive romance in her “This Is Me: A Reckoning” memoir, published earlier this year. Brian pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend in 2021 regarding incidents with Panettiere.
Vogel’s latest remarks follow Gayle King calling out the grandmother’s initial response to Panettiere’s death as “unseemly” on “CBS Mornings,” highlighting the ongoing public debate about how family members process grief under media scrutiny.
Panettiere’s memoir remains available as readers continue to engage with her account of the relationship she described.