NEWSMegyn Kelly Blasts Hayden Panettiere's 'Bizarre' Mom Lesley Vogel for Giving Interviews After Actress' Death: 'She's More Disturbed Than We Knew'
Megyn Kelly called Hayden Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, 'strange.'
Aug. 24 2026, Updated 6:08 p.m. ET
Megyn Kelly snapped back at Hayden Panettiere's mom, Lesley Vogel, for giving a barrage of interviews just days after the Nashville star passed away.
The journalist, 55, took to her eponymous show on Monday, August 24, and gave her take on Vogel's "strange" recent behavior.
Megyn Kelly had some choice words for Hayden Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel.
"Her bizarre mother is now giving interviews, and I'm sorry, but she seems even more disturbed than we knew," Kelly scoffed.
"By the way, she's very upset with yours truly and with Gayle King for walking away believing she was not a good mom. Yeah, and I've been very blunt about it, and I stand by every word," she continued.
Lesley Vogel Previously Slammed Megyn Kelly and Gayle King
'Her bizarre mother is now giving interviews, and I'm sorry, but she seems even more disturbed than we knew,' Megyn Kelly said.
The talent manager fired back at King, 71, and Kelly herself on August 22 in a chat with Daily Mail after the two anchorwomen made comments criticizing Vogel's parenting and her estranged relationship with Panettiere.
The Heroes alum died on August 16 at the age of 36 in a South Carolina loft following a suspected overdose and cardiac arrest.
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Hayden Panettiere and her mother, Lesley Vogel, were estranged for some parts of her life.
Kelly went on to alleged that Panettiere "couldn't stand" Vogel, adding: "She asked you to just be her mother, and you told her, 'You owe me.'"
The Scream 4 actress dropped her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, earlier this year, where she described a conversation with her mother that occurred when she was 19 years old.
Panettiere wanted to fire Vogel as her manager, resulting in the soap actress telling her: “You owe me.”
Megyn Kelly Said She 'Believes' Hayden Panettiere
Lelsey Vogel appeared on 'Good Morning America' on August 24 to talk about her late daughter.
Vogel, 70, appeared on Good Morning America on Monday, denying that talk ever took place.
"Guess what? I believe your daughter. I believe her. You wanted a cash cow. You didn't want a daughter. That's what led you to put your kid in these commercials and work her nonstop to the bone her entire childhood," Kelly sneered.
"Then when she died, you had the nerve to say, 'Oh, child actors. You know they have it really tough.' Yes, how does she become one? Who put her in this disgusting, toxic industry before she was old enough to handle it?" the former Fox News anchor said.
Hayden Panettiere died in South Carolina on August 16.
"Let me think about it. Let me tell you something. It's not Gayle King's fault, and it's not my fault. You've got to look in the mirror if you want to find true accountability for the path that your daughter took in her life," "The Megyn Kelly Show" host slammed.
Just two days after Panettiere's death, Vogel shared an initial statement with NBC News, saying: “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's a struggle, and it’s a very challenging industry, and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path."
