As the Epstein files scandal continues to spiral out of control, Megyn Kelly recently took it upon herself to make some shocking remarks about the now-late sexual predator and his choice of girls. On the November 12 episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly talked about Epstein, saying, “He liked 15-year-old girls.”
She then added, “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.” She further 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 five-year-old, you know?”
Kelly’s comments were criticized by Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, who took to Instagram to post, “You need to be careful with your words.” Melissa was part of the show from 1974 until 1983, and her character on the show was in a relationship with a much older man, which is likely one of the reasons she felt compelled to comment on Kelly’s remarks.
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Melissa played the character of Laura Ingalls Wilder on the show. The 61-year-old actress said that she felt “actually nauseated” by Kelly’s remarks, and she echoed the ongoing #iwasfifteen hashtag to show how young girls are at the age of fifteen.
Taking to Instagram, Melissa posted, “So, I debated posting this, but I feel compelled to share. 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.”
She further added, “And this is some of what I found… and now, at this age, at this time, I am actually nauseated.” Her post was accompanied by a picture of herself at that age, in which she clearly looked underage, along with snaps from the show where she was cast opposite Dean Butler, who was eight years older than she was.
Her post further mentioned, “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.’”
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Fortunately for Melissa, her adoptive parents, Barbara Cowan and Paul Gilbert—especially her mother—kept a close eye on her and made sure she was safe. However, as Melissa pointed out, “Can you imagine if I hadn’t had them all? I am so fortunate (sort of). Many other young women aren’t.”
Melissa’s post received a positive reaction online. One fan commented, “I’m so glad you said this. 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 added, “Times have definitely changed since the ’70s–’80s. Not that this makes it better. But dang. I didn’t realize you were that young when Laura married Almanzo!”
A third user chimed in, “Thank you for posting this.” Another fan wrote, “I’ve always admired you so much. Now even more so.” Meanwhile, someone else fumed, “It seems shocking that we even have to have this spelled out.”
While Kelly’s comments are deeply disturbing and disgusting, Melissa’s post stands as a sign of hope to show that there are still people who understand how girls of barely legal age are still children and having any kind of relationship with them is quite problematic.
