Hayden Panettiere’s mother, Wendi Vogel, has denied pressuring her daughter to pursue acting and modeling from an early age. According to Us Weekly, Vogel signed Panettiere up with the famed Wilhelmina modeling agency at just 8 months old, and the future Heroes star shot her first commercial three months later. By the age of 5, Panettiere had landed her first recurring TV role as Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live, a soap opera she worked on from 1994 to 1997.

Hayden’s Claims of Grooming

In a May 2026 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Panettiere claimed she had been “groomed” to work for as long as she could remember. She described feeling like a “little soldier” who had no say in her career. “‘No’ was never an option,” she said. “It was just, ‘Here are your scenes, here’s your dialogue, memorize it, hit the marks, do what your director tells you to do.’ I took my marching orders.”

Vogel’s Response and Defense

Vogel pushed back against her daughter’s claims, insisting that the pressure came from within Hayden herself. “I think that Hayden put a pressure on herself,” Vogel said. “I know that she has mentioned, you know, [that she] ‘always had to please Mom,’ or make sure it was, you know, I succeeded or whatever. I didn’t put that on her. I think she put that on herself.”

She also rejected the idea that Panettiere was unhappy in the earliest days of her career. “Try making a 2-to 5-year-old child do something they don’t want to do,” she said. “Are you going to be successful? No, you’re not.”

Other Stars Share Motherhood Experiences

While the focus of the Hayden Panettiere mom denies controversy remains on Vogel, other stars have also recently shared their experiences of motherhood. Ex-Biathlon star Denise Herrmann-Wick gave birth to her second child, a son named Arvid, on August 28, 2024, following the birth of her daughter Jonna in April 2024. Herrmann-Wick and her husband, former skier Thomas Wick, announced the arrival of their son via Instagram, stating that he was “healthy, strong, full of life.”

Denise Merten, a German influencer and former Bachelor participant, also made headlines at the Berlin Fashion Week when she brought her 5-year-old son to a blogger event. Merten emphasized the importance of education before any potential career in the spotlight. “My son must first complete his schooling and an apprenticeship before we can even talk about it,” she said.

Meanwhile, Panettiere’s recent role in Scream 6 is set to hit theaters on March 10. The film’s trailer teased her return as a character with a mysterious connection to the plot, adding a new layer to the horror franchise.