Melissa Gilbert Calls On Unions To Protect Child Actors After Hayden Panettiere’s Death: “Something Has Got To Be Done”

Melissa Gilbert called for significant improvements in the treatment of young performers in the entertainment industry after the death of actress Hayden Panettiere on August 16. Gilbert penned an essay titled "Enough Is Enough" on her Substack, mourning the recent deaths of Panettiere, Daveigh Chase, and Michelle Trachtenberg, all former child actors who passed away within a year.

Gilbert, who starred in NBC's "Little House on the Prairie" at the age of 10, wrote that the loss of three of their kind is alarming and signifies something deeply wrong. She criticized the "misogyny that drives the media" and the erosion of privacy, particularly for young women, due to mobile phones. Gilbert also highlighted that child actors are often discouraged from saying "no" and shared her own experiences of continuing to work despite personal trauma, including the death of her father when she was 11.

She recounted how adults on set failed to offer condolences and how she learned to work through emotional distress to avoid appearing unreliable or a diva. Gilbert called for the Screen Actor Guild to establish a well-funded support group for young performers and criticized the current committee as "essentially toothless." She emphasized the need for collective action, including lobbying studios and networks for accessible free mental health support for all child actors.

Gilbert's essay also mentioned her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, who is accused of inappropriate touching of young boys while filming "The Cleaning Lady" from 2022 to 2024.