'It's Hard For Her!' Hayden Panettiere's Mom Defends Star's Boozy Breakdown

Source: INSTAR Images

Feb. 25 2019, Updated 11:49 a.m. ET

After RadarOnline.com exclusively revealed photos of Hayden Panettiere vomiting following a drunken night in Los Angeles, her mother, Lesley Vogel is speaking out in her defense.

In an exclusive interview with RadarOnline.com, Vogel claimed her newly single daughter was just letting off some steam.

"She's been working for a very long time," Vogel insisted. "It's been hard for her, she needs a break."

"She is just a young girl who is having fun and being free," she continued. "She was just running by the ocean being free. Any young woman her age and especially one in the public eye is allowed to have some fun."

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Onlookers spotted the 28-year-old downing alcoholic drunks and vomiting. Witnesses claimed she ended up vomiting while her new boyfriend held her hair back.

As RadarOnline.com exclusively reported, Panettiere recently split from baby daddy Wladimir Klitschko and moved to Los Angeles from Nashville, where she had been filming hit show Nashville for six years. The couple shares a 3-year-old daughter, Kaya.

Shortly after their breakup, she was spotted holding hands with her new man, aspiring actor Brian Hickerson.

Though her mom insisted she's just fine, Panettiere has had her share of problems in the past .

Following the birth of her daughter, she opened up about her struggle with postpartum depression that forced her to seek help and check into a rehab facility.

The actress also previously revealed that as a young woman in show business, she was exposed to the darker side of Hollywood.

"I'm no different to anyone else and those same doors were opened to me and they were very easy to walk through —drugs, alcohol, being in inappropriate places where you shouldn't be at a certain age — it's a very tough position to be in," Panettiere admitted in an interview with BBC back in 2013.