New York [US], August 23: Melissa Gilbert is calling for systemic change after the death of Hayden Panettiere.
The Little House on the Prairie alum penned a Substack essay reflecting on the Heroes star's tragic death at 36, along with other former child stars who have died within the last 18 months.
"Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and Hayden Panettiere have died. DIED!" she wrote. "Three former female child actors of the same generation are gone. Tragically, heartbreakingly, agonizingly too soon."
Gilbert can't make sense of the tragedy. "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?" she wrote. "And why does this all feel so personal to me?"
The actress said that she feels a strong connection to former child stars because she also got her start as a child actor in a Hollywood system that did not protect her or prioritize her safety. "It feels personal because I was them," she said. "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. When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong."
Gilbert thinks that the advancement of the smartphone camera is partially to blame.
"Once a VIP area, lounge or anything meant privacy. We could travel to restaurants, events, clubs, etc. and go through the paparazzi into a safe zone. The invention of the mobile phone with camera obliterated that," she wrote. Now everyone is a paparazzo. There is no privacy. What's worse, is that what was once kept private is now exploited and sold. Often with the profits going to those whom the victim (yes, victim) was/is closest to and trusts. It's not just in restaurants, clubs, and on red carpets, it's in homes, doctor's offices, schools, everywhere."
She argued that Hollywood has set its expectations too high for young performers. "One of the most universal assets and ultimate liabilities I hear about child actors is that they 'Deliver no matter what.'" They are referred to as 'soldiers,' 'Machines,' 'Pros,'" she wrote. "Saying 'no' is something child actors are discouraged from doing. Lest they seem difficult."
Gilbert emphasized that child actors are not just miniature adults. "These young professionals are children, and we should make sure they are allowed to be children," she said. "They should be allowed to say 'no.' Not push through physical or emotional pain. Not be made to support their entire families. And most certainly not to be followed everywhere they go by cameras, phones and prying, exploitive eyes."
The actress suggested that former child stars band together to fight for future generations. "Maybe we start a group of our own to meet and share ideas and ways we might be able [to] lobby to support these young women," she wrote. "Maybe we sit down with the heads of the studios and Networks and have real conversations about mitigating exploitation. They have certainly come a long way from [the] days of giving pills to poor Judy Garland."
Gilbert also suggested providing more robust mental health resources for young performers. "Mental health care is available for corporate, tech, public sector and government workers, but for performers it is only available if one qualifies for health insurance based on earnings," she said. "We need to work with the 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."
She added, "Maybe we can show up on a set where one is struggling and just be there to support and help them self-advocate. Maybe we start collectively speaking up and admonishing the media for its unbounded exploitation. Maybe we get a ribbon on red carpets that simply says 'ENOUGH.'"
Gilbert's essay came seven months after her husband, Timothy Busfield, was accused of inappropriately touching twin 11-year-old boys whom he worked with on Fox's The Cleaning Lady on multiple occasions between November 2022 and the spring of 2024. The actor, who also worked as a director and executive producer on the show, was indicted in February on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child. Busfield pleaded not guilty to the charges and filed a motion to dismiss the New Mexico grand jury indictment. His attorneys argued that the prosecution failed to present a fair and impartial case, and that prosecutors misstated the law to the grand jury.
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Gilbert has defended her husband from the allegations. "This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives," she said on Good Morning America in April. "Our life as we knew it is done. We are grieving what we had. All of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects."
She said that her husband is "the last person in the world who would hurt a child," adding, "If I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he'd have a lot more to worry about than prison."
Busfield's trial is scheduled to begin in May 2027. He could be sentenced to at least three years in state prison if convicted.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
