Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | August 24, 2026
The passing of actress Hayden Panettiere last week at the age of 36 sent shockwaves through the industry. The news came mere months after she released her memoir, wherein she discussed the trauma of her time as a child star and the long-lasting effects of a life in the spotlight. This is Me: A Reckoning detailed her experiences in the business, including overwork, sexualisation by audiences and superiors alike, and a former friend who essentially pimped her out on a yacht. It's a bleak story, but unfortunately not a surprising one. As many people have noted, Panettiere's experiences are depressingly common among former child stars. Now, some of her fellow former child actors are speaking out in support and calling for change.
Melissa Gilbert of Little House on the Prairie fame wrote an essay on Substack demanding further union protections for kids in the film and TV world. "Where is our Union in all of this? Where is the collective outrage? Where are the regulations? Where is the protection of privacy?" she asked. "It really seems like no one cares enough to enact real change. At least, not until the next death and everyone talks about how sad they are and how we must do something and then they forget and get on with their lives until it happens again and again and again."
She added: "Within one year, Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and Hayden Panettiere have died. DIED! Three former female child actors of the same generation are gone. Tragically, heartbreakingly, agonizingly too soon."
Gilbert noted the lack of privacy the current generation of stars face, and how click bait and "the voracious, tabloid-happy public" exacerbate many of the existing issues. But the glut of the blame lies with the industry. "Our union has really been unable to do anything substantive about this. Sure, there's a young performers committee, but it is essentially toothless, political and tends to get short shrift because there are always bigger fish to fry. They have handbooks and orientations but no real functioning, well-funded, far reaching support group."
This was a point echoed by Christy Carlson Romano, formerly of Even Stevens, in a piece she wrote for Elle. "We put youth athletes in helmets and pads. We invented entire sciences around protecting them from long-term damage. Why can't we pad the children paid to make the world smile?"
While Gilbert's passion is notable, one hopes that she would practice what she preaches in regards to protecting child performers. Gilbert's husband Timothy Busfield awaits trial in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where two boys accused him of child sexual abuse during production on a TV series. She has repeatedly defended Busfield.
Another former child performer speaking up is Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar at the age of 11 for The Piano. "It's not a coincidence that so many former, specifically pre-sexualized female, child 'stars' have profoundly sad lives and untimely ends," she wrote on Instagram. "We were not as protected by the 'systems' that look great on paper, as we are supposed to be."
Isn't it horrifying and oh-so-revealing how many people have stories like this? How many former child performers had near-identical experiences and were flung onto the same cruel path and then blamed for their own struggles? They call it a "child star curse" so that they can relinquish any responsibility in forcing children into full-time work and claiming it's a blessing. It's certainly true that the industry needs a radical shake-up, especially in the age of social media, internet labour, and AI. Where is SAG-AFTRA in all of this? Or local legislators with the power to enforce necessary change? It shouldn't take another tragic death for people to reconsider the crooked status quo.
