Actress Melissa Gilbert is sharing a raw and unfiltered update amid her husband Timothy Busfield’s child sex abuse scandal.
“Ok @officialmodernprairie so many women posted photos on our app, I’ll accept the challenge and bring it here to IG,” Gilbert, 62, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, May 16, alongside a makeup-free selfie featuring the actress smiling for the camera.
“This is me. No make up. Early morning. Jammies. No filbert,” she continued in the caption. “Definitely getting into the picture of my life today. So much more to come. #getinthepicture #modernprairie #wecandohardthings #keepmovingforward #nevergiveup lovelifeevenwhenitshard.”
Gilbert’s positive upload comes after her husband Busfield, 68, was issued an arrest warrant on January 8, 2026, by New Mexico authorities after he was accused of touching two twin underage boys inappropriately during their time on the TV series The Cleaning Lady.
After turning himself in, Busfield was released on January 29, 2026, on his own recognizance. He has vehemently denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Shortly after Busfield’s arrest, Gilbert issued a statement publicly defending her husband of 12 years.
“During this period, her focus is on supporting and caring for their very large family as they navigate this moment,” a rep for Gilbert told Us Weekly at the time. “Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.”
Gilbert also wrote a letter of support on behalf of her husband to the judge, asking for the court to keep her husband “safe” during his brief time behind bars. She described Busfield as having “the strongest moral compass of any human I have ever known.”
Melissa Gilbert is standing by her husband, Timothy Busfield, despite his child sex abuse charges, calling his arrest “the most traumatizing experience of our lives” while maintaining her belief in his innocence. The Little House on the Prairie alum broke her silence in a candid interview with George Stephanopoulos that aired during the April 6, […]
“Your honor, this is the strangest letter I’ve ever had to write,” she said in her letter to the judge. “I only want this extraordinary man safe and whole. Please, please take care of my sweet husband. As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart, I am relying on [you] to protect him for me.”
During an April 2 interview with Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos, Gilbert revealed that her life has been “hell” since the allegations against her husband made headlines.
“Our life as we knew it is done,” she said at the time. “We are grieving what we had — all of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects. For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled. Even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy. [He’s] the last person in the world who would hurt a child. And believe me, if I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
