Over the weekend, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly seized the chance to claim the moral high ground from “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert, after New Mexico authorities announced that they had issued an arrest warrant for Gilbert’s TV actor husband, Timothy Busfield, in connection with child abuse sex claims.

Given what’s emerged in the case against Gilbert’s husband of 12 years, she appeared to make herself vulnerable to accusations by Kelly and others, who say she engaged in hypocrisy and “virtue signaling” by recently speaking out against the sexual exploitation of minors, including when they are working on film or TV sets.

What’s made things look even worse for Gilbert is that she already knew that her husband was under investigation on Nov. 15. That’s when she publicly joined the viral #iwasfifteen hashtag, which targeted Kelly for comments she had made that appeared to minimize the victimization of female teenagers, as People reported.

On her Sirius XM show in November, Kelly seemed to question whether notorious accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein could qualify as a pedophile, according to People.  Kelly suggested that the word didn’t necessarily apply to Epstein because he supposedly didn’t prey on young children but on adolescent girls. Kelly called 15-year-old girls “the barely legal type,” prompting the rise of the #iwasfifteen trend, which involved women sharing photos of themselves when they were 15 years old. That’s what Gillbert did, posting a photo of herself on Instagram and writing that she’s since realized how inappropriate it was that she, at 15 and on the “Little House on the Prairie” set, was expected to perform in a love scene with an older male actor.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 24: Megyn Kelly attends the 2025 TIME100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)

Over the weekend, Kelly turned the tables on Gilbert, writing on X that the 61-year-old veteran actor and former Screen Actors Guild president made that Nov. 15 post when she already knew that her husband “was actively under investigation” for allegedly grooming and molesting 11-year-old twin brothers while he was directing them in the Fox TV series, “The Cleaning Lady.” On Friday, authorities in Albuquerque, New Mexico announced that they had issued an arrest warrant for the 68-year-old Busfield, alleging unlawful sexual conduct with the child actors — one of whom alleged that the incidents began when he was 7.

“Melissa Gilbert made sure she got herself in the paper by attacking yours truly for allegedly downplaying the seriousness of Epstein’s abuse of teenagers (in fact I made clear that abuse at any age disgusts me),” Kelly wrote on X. “Melissa saw an opportunity to play the ‘avenger’ of victims and she took it, dishonestly attacking and lecturing your reporter on abuse claims in a cynical effort to get some Chips in the Good Person bank.”

Kelly cited the arrest warrant and an affidavit from an Albuquerque police detective, who said that Gilbert was listening in on the phone interview he had with Busfield on Nov. 3, as People magazine and other outlets reported. Busfield is best known for appearing on “The West Wing” and for his Emmy-winning performance in “Thirtysomething.”

As of Monday morning, it’s not known if Busfield is in custody or has made arrangements to surrender himself to authorities in New Mexico. Busfield and Gilbert also had not yet issued statements in response to the allegations.

The allegations stem from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) alerting officers about a case of reported sexual abuse in 2024, People reported. The boys’ parents said they were advised by an attorney to take the children to UNMH, where they said professionals suggested the boys “were groomed.” At the time, it was determined that the case did not meet authorities’ “acceptance criteria,” People said. A year later, in October 2025, the victims’ mother filed a police report and told Child Protective Services (CPS) that “her children both disclosed that there was sexual abuse by Busfield from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.” People reported.

During his phone interview with the detective, with Gilbert listening in, Busfield denied the allegations, People reported. He said the parents were upset that their sons had been replaced with a younger actor, according to the warrant. Shortly after, the actor got a call from Warner Bros., informing him they were investigating a complaint.

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – JUNE 20: Melissa Gilbert and her husband Timothy Busfield attend the “Busfiled/Gilbert” photocall during the 62nd Monte Carlo TV Festival on June 20, 2023 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

In the warrant, police also reported that both Busfield and Gilbert had developed a relationship with the two boys “and their family outside of work,” People reported. During Busfield’s phone interview, he and Gilbert told the detective that they bought the boys Christmas gifts and saw them at “several were together (at) several social functions.” In his affidavit, the detective also mentioned that Busfield “would invite the family to off-set gatherings, with his wife buying Christmas gifts to foster closeness.”

These alleged details from the warrant — about Gilbert helping her husband “foster the relationship” with them — gave Kelly additional ammunition to call out Gilbert, who deleted her Instagram account over the weekend.

“Note to media: it’s always the ones who morally preen the hardest. Always,” Kelly also said. “And the reason it’s them is that they have something to hide. So they need to convince you that they are righteous and others are not, something normal people feel no need to do.”

But in reply to Kelly’s post, some people defended Gilbert. “The charges are against Timothy not Melissa,” one person said. “Please refrain from spreading misinformation just because you have a personal grudge against Melissa.” Another person told Kelly that it was “a gross exaggeration” to say that Gilbert “attacked” her over her Epstein comments. “She said you should be more careful with your choice of words,” the person said.

But others agreed with Kelly that Gilbert’s Nov. 15 post could have been an attempt to “gaslight,” ahead of news breaking that her husband was under investigation. They also asked what Gilbert knew before her husband came to the attention of New Mexico authorities. “Most wives know,” one said. “They know something is not right and is off.”

As People and other outlets also reported, Busfield was previously embroiled in a civil lawsuit, stemming from allegations that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl on the set of the 1993 film, “Little Big League,” which he directed. In response to the allegations, Busfield filed a defamation lawsuit against the Minneapolis law firm representing the girl, who had been an extra on the film.

But in 1996, a federal judge rejected Busfield’s defamation claims and ordered the actor to pay the law firm $150,000, People reported. Busfield also reportedly settled the underlying lawsuit involving the girl for an undisclosed amount.

Up until Friday, Gilbert and Busfield seemed to be blissfully happy in their marriage. They came to it with a history of two prior marriages and two divorces each, according to People. They also had children from those marriages. When they met at a bar in 2012, Gilbert said it felt like “getting hit with a thunderbolt,” as she told People in September 2024. She said she immediately knew she wanted to marry him. Busfield concurred, saying, “I knew she was the one. It felt so real.”

After marrying in 2013, Busfield has been a regular presence on Gilbert’s Instagram, as she has shared photos of their happy moments together — adopting a rescue dog together, her honoring him on father’s day. They have been living in New York City and own a home in the Catskills. On Nov. 1, two days before Busfield’s police interview, Gilbert shared a photo of the two of them, posing in front of an autumn landscape and writing, “This is how we do a date day: Driving through stunning beauty to go get our favorite vegan food … and then to see @blackphonemovie followed by grocery shopping. We are a wild pair.”

Even after the police interview, Gilbert promoted the idea of marital bliss, sharing a photo of a smiling Busfield preparing his “legendary stuffed turkey” for Thanksgiving. On New Year’s Eve, she celebrated “the many moments in 2025 to be thankful for,” including “the dancing-in-the-kitchen joy and the belly-laugh smiles” as well as the “possibility on the horizon, curiosity in our hearts, and the reminder that we’re still becoming.”