Melissa Gilbert is urging the entertainment industry to take stronger responsibility for the welfare of young performers, renewing a long-running conversation about how Hollywood treats child actors.
Claims circulating online about Hayden Panettiere’s death are inaccurate. The actress has not been publicly confirmed to have died, and reports describing her as having been found unresponsive in South Carolina should not be treated as verified information.
Gilbert, 62, best known for her work on Little House on the Prairie, addressed the issue in an emotional Substack essay titled “Enough Is Enough,” arguing that young performers have too often been left vulnerable in an industry built around adult power structures.
The broader discussion arrives amid heightened scrutiny of Hollywood’s duty of care toward minors, with advocates increasingly calling for stronger safeguards, clearer oversight and long-term support for children who work in film and television.
In the essay, Gilbert reflected on the pressures faced by former child stars and pointed to the emotional toll that early fame can carry well into adulthood.
“Something has got to be done,” Gilbert wrote, framing her appeal as a call for meaningful change rather than another round of industry hand-wringing.
Melissa Gilbert, 62, has called for stronger protections for child actors; seen in 2020 in New York City
Hayden Panettiere, seen in 2017 in New York City, has been the subject of inaccurate online claims about her death
The star added, ‘They are gone and the question I have been turning over and over in my head is, “WHY?”. Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?’
Gilbert reflected on growing up as a child on the screen while naming other celebrities including Britney Spears, sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning, Drew Barrymore and Jodie Foster.
‘We are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current.’
She continued, ‘When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong.’
Gilbert claimed that the ‘invention of the mobile phone’ has possibly caused young stars to be ‘exploited’ far worse over the years.
‘The real question haunting me is “How do we fix or end this before someone else dies?”‘ she further penned.
The actress wrote that it ‘is likely a combination of many factors, but it is incumbent on those of us who came before to support those experiencing it now.’
Gilbert also referred to Doctor Show Syndrome, which ‘kicks in and enables us to perform when we are sick both physically and emotionally.’
It comes as Gilbert’s husband Timothy Busfield is charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13. He has denied all allegations; seen in 2023 in Monaco
The star added, ‘They are gone and the question I have been turning over and over in my head is, “WHY?”. Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?’
The Miracle Worker star claimed to have worked while ‘horribly sick, injured or worse’; seen above on Little House On The Prairie
The Miracle Worker star claimed to have worked while ‘horribly sick, injured or worse.’
Just months after her father passed away when she was 11 years old, the actress ‘was back working’ on Little House On The Prairie.
‘And not one single adult on that set discussed it with me or offered condolences. I later found out that the fear was I would become too upset to work. I was eleven, my Daddy had just died and I was shattered.
‘Thank God my character cried in every single episode. That, as twisted as it sounds, was my therapy. My release.’
Gilbert also claimed in the essay that she ‘nearly worked to death a few times.’
One instance occurred when she was filming a movie in Oregon when she ‘had an emergency appendectomy.’
She was back to work three days later and wrapped shooting. By the time she got home, she had been ‘on the verge of sepsis.’
‘That is what we are taught as young actors. These young professionals are children, and we should make sure they are allowed to be children.’
Just months after her father passed away when she was 11-years-old, the actress ‘was back working’ on Little House On The Prairie
Towards the end of the essay, the actress said that ‘something has got to be done’; seen in 2023
Gilbert also called on ‘studios and networks to establish accessible free mental health support for all child actors as they transition into young adulthood. That can only be accomplished with industry-wide cooperation.’
Towards the end of the essay, the actress said that ‘something has got to be done.’
‘I have this image in my mind of Hayden’s little girl who will now grow up without her Mama. She is eleven years old. That’s the same age I was when my father died.
‘And now I am weeping as I type this and I just want to scream from the rooftops, “ENOUGH!”‘
The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Gilbert for comment.
Anna Paquin, who notably won an Oscar at the age of 11 for her role in The Piano, also slammed Hollywood’s treatment of ‘presexualized’ underage actresses on Friday.
She wrote on Instagram on what would have been Panettiere’s 37th birthday: ‘It’s not a coincidence that so many former, specifically presexualized female, child “stars” have profoundly sad lives and untimely ends.
‘We were not as protected by the “systems” that look great on paper, as we are supposed to be said. RIP HP, MT, DC, and too many others.’
Back in June, Gilbert also made a lengthy post on Instagram lecturing child star parents in response to the death of The Ring actress Daveigh Chase.
Anna Paquin, who notably won an Oscar at the age of 11 for her role in The Piano, also slammed Hollywood’s treatment of ‘presexualized’ underage actresses on Friday; Paquin seen in 2022
Back in June, Gilbert also made a lengthy post on Instagram lecturing child star parents in response to the death of The Ring actress Daveigh Chase; Chase seen in 2011 in L.A.
Chase died aged 35 on June 16 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is the most advanced stage of HIV infection, according to the LA County Medical Examiner.
However, Gilbert was criticized on social media as her husband fights child sex accusations in court. Others were supportive of the actress’s post.
Busfield is charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13, which he has pled not guilty to.
Prosecutors in New Mexico announced on February 6 that Busfield had been indicted in connection with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13.
The allegations against Busfield involve two child actors who worked with him on the TV series The Cleaning Lady, which he produced and worked as a director on from 2022-2025.
The trial is currently slated to commence in May of 2027.
Busfield said his career is over, as he has allegedly been ‘canceled.’
Prosecutors in New Mexico announced on February 6 that Busfield had been indicted in connection with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13; seen in January in New Mexico
He told a grand jury in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in February that his ‘career’s done’ in the wake of the allegations, according to testimony from the district attorney’s office that was obtained by USA Today.
‘I’m canceled,’ Busfield said. ‘I’ll never, I don’t, I’ll never work again just based on people’s fear that I would do this again and, and even if it wasn’t true, I’m done.’
He continued: ‘I’ve lost TV shows, a movie they’ve digitally replaced me from. My agency fired me. I’m done. This is not about me or a pity thing.’
Busfield said in two hours of testimony to the grand jury that his last hope was that Gilbert’s career was not sunk by his legal troubles.
