Melissa Gilbert is calling out Megyn Kelly over comments the political commentator made about Jeffrey Epstein — remarks that appeared to minimize the severity of the disgraced financier’s abuse by framing his victims as “barely legal.” Gilbert, who became a household name as a child star on Little House on the Prairie, said Kelly’s characterization ignored an essential truth: a 15-year-old is a child.
Gilbert, 61, joined the growing #iWasFifteen trend on social media, a wave of women posting photos of themselves at age 15 in response to Kelly’s recent comments on her SiriusXM program. During a Nov. 12 episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly told listeners that while Epstein’s behavior was “disgusting,” he “liked 15-year-old girls” and “was into the barely legal type,” adding, “There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old.”
Her remarks prompted swift blowback — including from Gilbert.
In a Nov. 15 Instagram post, Gilbert shared images of herself at 15, many from her time on Little House on the Prairie, where her character, Laura Ingalls, was paired romantically with Almanzo Wilder, played by Dean Butler. At the time, Butler was 23. One photo shows a teenage Gilbert embracing and kissing Butler on-screen. Another shows her on a family vacation.
“I am actually nauseated,” Gilbert wrote in the caption. “The girl on vacation in Hawaii with her family is the same girl who was expected to ‘fall in love with’ and kiss a man on film who was several years older than she was… Through the lens of today, this is shocking. I have no words other than to say, ‘I WAS A CHILD.’ ‘I WAS FIFTEEN.’”
Gilbert said she was fortunate to have adults on set — including Michael Landon and her mother — who looked out for her. “Can you imagine if I hadn’t had them all?” she wrote. “Many other young women aren’t. @megynkelly you need to be careful with your words.”
Gilbert’s critique also isn’t her first clash with Kelly. In January, after Kelly warned Netflix not to “wokify” an upcoming Little House reboot, Gilbert said the original series had always taken on challenging social issues. “TV doesn’t get too much more ‘woke’ than we did,” she wrote, listing the show’s long history of tackling racism, misogyny, abuse, and discrimination.
