The fallout surrounding Hayden Panettiere's shocking death at just 36 has taken an intensely personal turn, with Ruby Rose releasing alleged private text messages from her late friend that appear to reveal just how fractured Hayden's relationship with her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, had become.
Rose, 40, shared screenshots on Threads that she says came from conversations with the Nashville and Heroes star before her death. The messages surfaced after Vogel began publicly discussing her daughter's death, their estrangement and her concerns about Hayden's on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson.
One alleged message is particularly heartbreaking.
"I was sobbing over her cruelty yesterday thinking, my god I'm 36 and she can still cause this kind of pain," the person identified as Hayden wrote, according to the screenshot. She then questioned why her mother would treat the situation that way when she was her "only child left."
The reference carries an especially painful weight because Hayden's younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, died unexpectedly in 2023 at just 28.
Rose's decision to make the alleged texts public came as Vogel faced criticism over comments she made following Hayden's death. Vogel told NBC News that her daughter had been enormously talented but believed the pressures surrounding the entertainment industry contributed to her struggles.
"I think Hayden sadly lost her way and I wish it were different," Vogel said. She also said she believed her daughter was now with Jansen and "they're at peace."
But Vogel also turned attention toward Hickerson, telling NBC News that Hayden's family had been concerned about him for years and alleging that he had previously enabled her daughter. Hickerson and his brother Zach were at the South Carolina apartment where Hayden was found unresponsive, according to a police report obtained by CBS News.
Police have said their preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. Hayden's cause and manner of death remain pending while authorities await the results of additional testing following her autopsy.
Vogel's comments nevertheless sparked an immediate backlash.
Gayle King criticized the mother's remarks on CBS Mornings, saying her reaction was essentially, "Thanks, Mom, for nothing." Actress Holly Robinson Peete also weighed in, questioning why Vogel's public comments did not contain a more straightforward expression of love and grief for her daughter.
Now Rose appears to be giving the public a glimpse of what she says Hayden herself was saying privately.
The alleged messages also suggest the two actresses had bonded over difficult experiences involving their mothers. In one exchange published by Entertainment Weekly, Rose told Hayden that their mothers did not behave as mothers should. The response attributed to Hayden then described being reduced to tears by her mother's alleged behavior.
The mother-daughter conflict was hardly a secret before Hayden's death.
Earlier this year, their estrangement burst dramatically into public view around the publication of Hayden's memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. Vogel blasted her daughter's account and accused her of causing years of trauma, while Hayden subsequently said her mother's reaction had damaged whatever hope she still held for reconciliation.
That history makes Rose's screenshots particularly striking. If authentic-and they have been presented publicly by Rose as Hayden's messages-they suggest that behind the celebrity interviews and public family feud was a daughter who remained deeply affected by the breakdown of one of the most important relationships in her life.
Hayden died Sunday, Aug. 16, after being found unresponsive at an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. First responders performed lifesaving measures before she was pronounced dead. Authorities said there were no obvious physical injuries explaining why she was unresponsive, and an autopsy found no trauma that contributed to her death.
The investigation is continuing, meaning speculation about precisely what caused Hayden's death should be treated cautiously until officials release their findings.
But while authorities work to answer that question, an entirely different story is unfolding publicly: a bitter family fracture that apparently followed Hayden right up to the final chapter of her life.
And Ruby Rose now appears determined to make sure Hayden's own alleged words are part of that story.
