Tone-deaf Melissa Gilbert sparks backlash by sharing Instagram tour of her fridge as husband Timothy Busfield faces child sex charges

She remains silent about pedophilia allegations against her actor husband, but Melissa Gilbert is being slammed for opening up about something far more random: The contents of her refrigerator.

The 61-year-old former Little House on the Prairie star refused to comment on child sex abuse charges filed against Timothy Busfield, 68, when reached by the Daily Mail Tuesday.

But as Busfield was driving 2,000 miles to Albuquerque to turn himself in to police, Gilbert was exposing her grocery stash on Instagram revealing, of all things, the items she keeps stocked in her fridge.

‘We get asked all the time what’s in our Modern Prairie test kitchen fridge… and the honest answer is: all the good stuff.

‘Butter, eggs, milk, veggies, the building blocks of magical meals,’ reads the post by the lifestyle company she co-founded and purports to run.

The post revealed full-frontals of the fridge stocked with multiple egg cartons, and pics of its door shelving piled with boxes upon boxes and sticks upon sticks of butter.

‘They’re not the whole story,’ the post continued in a notable social-media understatement.

‘But let’s be real… butter and eggs are a pretty great place to start. Because with the right basics on hand, anything can happen. From a cozy weeknight dinner to a “how did we eat all of that already?” kind of bake.’

Melissa Gilbert has sparked backlash after sharing a post on her brand Modern Prairie’s Instagram account about her refrigerator while remaining silent on child sex abuse charges against her husband

Gilbert’s husband, actor Timothy Busfield, 68, is charged with criminal sexual contact with a minor and child abuse, allegations he has denied

Some in the Modern Prairie community were aghast at Gilbert’s refrigerator-bearing posts, suggesting she ought to get her own ‘little house’ in order before offering domestic advice.

‘Maybe take a break from the socials marketing for a bit…,’ urged one poster, Michelle Gowan.

‘I think right now you’re getting asked more than anything why your founder is married to a pedophile who she would’ve known and had all allegations before they were married. And I think you’re deleting anything negative and sanitizing your page,’ added a poster identified as Allison C.

A follower named Barbara Ciner chimed, writing: ‘This is not the first time a woman has looked the other way in the hopes of keeping what they perceive as true love.

‘I’m just curious how she lets all those grandkids around him and in such close proximity. How do you trust?’

Still, some fans are rallying behind her in light of the allegations against her husband.

‘I love modern Prairie. And I’m with you, Melissa. Hugs go out to you. You’re an amazing person.❤️ hang in there,’ posted a follower named Wendy Wesley.

‘Be kind during this horrible time for her,’ wrote another, Mackenzie McCracken, a self-described ‘baker, lover of hospitality & green bean casserole.’

Gilbert’s lifestyle brand, Modern Prairie, shared images of the fridge packed with butter, eggs and other staples, prompting criticism from followers

The company released a statement saying the allegations against Busfield ‘do not involve Modern Prairie, our operations, nor our community,’ and that ‘we are respecting the privacy of the family as they navigate a difficult and personal situation.’

‘Modern Prairie unequivocally condemns abuse in all forms and remains committed to values of safety, integrity, and respect,’ it adds.

Gilbert, who married Busfield in 2013, went dark on her personal Instagram account after news broke about the allegations late last week.

The charges against him came two months after she gushed about their relationship in a November 2025 post from upstate New York, not far from where the couple own their mountain home.

In it, she raved about their ‘date day driving through stunning beauty,’ enjoying vegan food, seeing Black Phone 2, the movie, and grocery shopping together.

‘We are a wild pair @timbusfield and I!! #dateday #outwithmyfella #goingonadate #lovemylife #sullivancountycatskills​,’ it reads.

She has described her marriage to Busfield as ‘perfect.’

Ironically, Gilbert has publicly spoken out about the issue of sexual exploitation of child actors – albeit before the allegations against her husband publicly surfaced.

The charges against her husband came two months after Gilbert gushed about their relationship in a November 2025 post from upstate New York, not far from where Gilbert owns her mountain home

The company released a statement saying the allegations against Busfield ‘do not involve Modern Prairie, our operations, nor our community’

In November, she shared photos of herself at age 15 with a caption saying that, in hindsight, she was ‘actually nauseated’ that she had to kiss a significantly older actor as part of her Little House role.

The actor and director turned himself in to authorities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as controversy swirled online

‘Through the lens of today, this is shocking,’ she wrote. ‘I have no words other than to say, ‘I WAS A CHILD.’ ‘I WAS FIFTEEN.”

The West Wing and Thirtysomething actor faces two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor stemming from his contact between 2022 and 2024 with two now 11-year-old twin boys, both child actors.

He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, on Tuesday.

A source there described him as ‘cooperative’ and ‘respectful’ – although also ‘somewhat rattled.’

Meanwhile, just minutes after he turned himself in, heavily armed US Marshals raided Busfield’s and Gilbert’s home in New York’s Catskill Mountains, searching through an RV and shed on the property for the accused, in what appeared to be a communications snafu.

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t talk now,’ Gilbert told us by phone from an undisclosed location around the time Busfield was surrendering in Albuquerque and her country home was being raided.

She later texted us back, referring all questions ‘to my husband’s lawyer,’ Larry Stein, who could not be reached for comment.

Heavily armed US Marshals descended on the couple’s secluded Catskills home, smashing open the front door with a battering ram during a dramatic raid on Tuesday

Marshals searched the interior of the house for around ten minutes before checking the rear of the property, which includes an RV and an outhouse

TMZ obtained footage of the actor and director saying, ‘I’m [going to] confront these lies. They’re horrible.’

‘They’re all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys, and I’m [going to] fight it. … So, hang in there, and hopefully I’m out real soon.’

Busfield, who remains in jail, could not be reached for comment.

According to his arrest warrant, law enforcers launched an investigation in early November 2024 after a doctor reported suspected sexual abuse among the child actors who met and became close with Busfield on the set of The Cleaning Lady, a TV series on which he worked as both an actor and director.

After hearing and reading about multiple rumors about Busfield and alleged sexual conduct, the boys’ parents reportedly asked their kids if they experienced any inappropriate contact by anyone on set. One of them apparently responded: ‘You mean like Uncle Tim?’

When the boys indicated that they had, their parents took them to the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH), where a care provider indicated they may have been groomed sexually.

The criminal complaint says one of the boys reported that Busfield touched him three or four times on private areas over his clothing when he was seven years old, and allegedly touched him five or six other times a year later.

His twin brother reportedly said he, too, was fondled by Busfield, but didn’t want to say anything for fear of getting in trouble.

Gilbert has not publicly commented on the allegations, instead referring questions to her husband’s lawyer

The warrant refers to Busfield having faced previous sexual assault allegations dating back to the 1990s, but notes those accusations didn’t lead to criminal prosecution.

When interviewed by an investigator, Busfield acknowledged likely having played with and tickled the brothers, but surmised that their mother was accusing him of abuse as her way of seeking revenge for them being replaced on the series.

Gilbert, for her part, has her own history as a child star, having played Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House in the 1970s and 1980s.

She went on to do some acting as a teen and adult, including a lead role as Anne Frank, and later served as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005.

She has two sons from other marriages, and Busfield has three adult children from previous wives.

The couple shares at least one grandchild, who can be seen on his Instagram posts.

Public records show they have lived in Southern California, Manhattan, upstate New York and in Michigan, where Gilbert briefly ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2015.

She withdrew her candidacy after it was revealed that she owed $360,000 in back taxes.

Gilbert, who famously played Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie, has publicly spoken out about the issue of sexual exploitation of child actors – albeit before the allegations against her husband publicly surfaced

Gilbert seen far right with Melissa Sue Anderson, far left, and Lindsay Greenbush, center, on Little House On The Prairie

​​’Like so many people across the nation, the recession hit me hard. That, plus a divorce and a dearth of acting opportunities the last few years, created a perfect storm of financial difficulty for me,’ she said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight at the time, later attributing her decision to back out of the race to health problems.

The Little House actress has in recent years embraced a quieter life away from Hollywood, focusing largely on the lifestyle brand she co-founded with retail executive Nicole Haase.

Modern Prairie riffs off Little House’s homespun aesthetic. Its catalogue and promotional materials feature her in the kinds of frocks her TV ‘Ma’ — Caroline Ingalls, played by Karen Grassle — wore, obsessing over the kinds of quilting projects that the plucky pioneer family crafted.

Featuring images of aproned women baking pies and square-dancing together, the company touts itself for ‘supporting midlife women through community and commerce,’ and for sparking ‘creativity, connection and joy through the things we make and the community we nurture.’

‘I’m so grateful to be walking alongside this community of strong, thoughtful women. You remind me – over and over again – that showing up with heart matters,’ Gilbert wrote in a message she posted on New Years Eve.