Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert fired back at Megyn Kelly’s remarks that Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t technically a pedophile since he preferred ‘barely legal girls’ as opposed to ‘eight-year-olds.’
Gilbert, 61, took to Instagram on Saturday to push back on Kelly’s earlier remarks, delving into her own past as a TV actress whose character was depicted in a relationship with a much older man.
‘You need to be careful with your words,’ Gilbert, who appeared on the popular series Little House on the Prairie from 1974–1983, told Kelly, 54, who made the comments on The Megyn Kelly Show.
In remarks on her November 12 broadcast, Kelly tried to qualify Epstein‘s sexual preferences as less perverse since the girls were in their adolescent years.
‘He liked 15-year-old girls,’ Kelly said. ‘And I realize this is disgusting. I’m definitely not trying to make an excuse for this. I’m just giving you facts, that he wasn’t into, like, eight-year-olds.’
Kelly continued: ‘But he liked the very young teen types that could pass for even younger than they were, but would look legal to a passerby – there’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old, you know?’
Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert on Saturday fired back at Megyn Kelly’s remarks that Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t technically a pedophile since he preferred ‘barely legal girls’ as opposed to ‘eight-year-olds’
Gilbert, who played the role of Laura Ingalls Wilder on the NBC staple, said she was ‘actually nauseated’ by Kelly’s remarks amid a circulating hashtag it prompted titled #iwasfifteen to show just how young a person is at that age.
‘So, I debated posting this but, I feel compelled to share,’ Gilbert said. ‘After seeing many women’s posts with the hashtags #iwasfifteen #imfifteen #iwasachild, I decided to google search myself at that age and see what came up.
‘And this is some of what I found…and now, at this age, at this time, I am actually nauseated.’
Gilbert shared an image where she was clearly underage, followed by two images from the show in which she was acting alongside her onscreen love interest Almanzo James Wilder (played by actor Dean Butler, who is eight years her senior).
Said Gilbert: ‘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, who was raised by adoptive parents Barbara Cowan and Paul Gilbert, said her mother and the late Michael Landon kept an eye on her and made sure she ‘was safe.’
Said Gilbert, ‘Can you imagine if I hadn’t had them all? I am so fortunate (Sort of). Many other young women aren’t.’
A number of Gilbert’s followers hailed the actress for her brave admission on social media
Melissa Gilbert’s character’s onscreen love interest was played by actor Dean Butler, who is eight years her senior
Late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2004
A protester held up a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. on November 12
A number of Gilbert’s followers hailed the actress for her brave admission on the social media platform.
‘I’m so glad you said this,’ actor-singer Cheyenne Jackson said. ‘I’ve actually thought about this often.
‘You and I have spoken about little house of course, but you really were just a young girl. So glad you had a team of support and family protecting you. But still. ‘
Another user added, ‘Yep. I’ll bet we all have a story about being 15 and getting lots of unwanted attention from grown men. My skin still crawls thinking about it and I’m 60. Ugh.’
Other supportive comments left for Gilbert included ‘THAT needed to be said;’ and ‘Thank you for posting this.’
