Hayden Panettiere is opening up like never before ahead of the release of her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. While sitting down with Jay Shetty on his podcast, “On Purpose,” in May 2026, the Scream VI actress detailed her difficult past with postpartum depression, addiction, pressures in the public eye and her personal relationships. Her comments about her estranged mother shocked fans, since Hayden claimed that “everything” in their mother-daughter relationship “was business.”
“I became the confidant and the assistant and the therapist and the shoulder to cry on and everything but her child,” Hayden claimed.
At one point during the interview, Hayden recalled a conversation she had with her mom when she was a child. As a rising star, Hayden’s personal brand (her acting career) paid for the family’s bills — from car payments to phone expenses — which left her feeling “incredibly uncomfortable.”
“At the same time I was working hard, making money, and this money was going towards things that I wasn’t privy to,” Hayden added.
Learn about Hayden’s complicated relationship with her mother, who she is and what happened between them here.
Hayden’s mom is Lesley R. Vogel (née Panettiere). Like her daughter, Lesley also worked as an actress. According to her IMDb profile, Lesley produced Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List and appeared in Sister Sensei and Loving as an actor.
According to Hayden, she ended her business relationship with Lesley years ago, and Lesley allegedly claimed that the Heroes alum owed her money.
