"I think it really sheds a terrible light on the brand," the actress said, claiming organizers misled attendees into believing she was participating when she was not.
Melissa Gilbert has strong feelings about some controversial Little House on the Prairie reunion events that took place this year.
The cast of the beloved period drama recently announced that they would no longer support or appear at fan events produced by Jack Bishop and Gravel Road Markets, and now Gilbert, who played writer Laura Ingalls Wilder on the series, is tearing into the allegedly mismanaged events.
"From what I understand, it became a waking nightmare," Gilbert said of an event in Pennsylvania in a new interview with PEOPLE. "They ran [out of] food. He oversold tickets. He didn't pay the vendors."
Gilbert said that the events were "a shocking affront to the fans of Little House on the Prairie," adding, "If I were the owner of the IP, I would be infuriated because I think it really sheds a terrible light on the brand."
A representative for Gravel Road Markets did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.
The actress and more than a dozen of her Little House costars announced on Sept. 6 that they had cut ties with Bishop's company, citing "disappointing events in Connecticut and Pennsylvania." The cast said they asked Bishop to remove their names and likeness from any promotional assets for future events, which were scheduled to take place in Tennessee, South Dakota, Missouri, and Texas. "This decision was not made lightly but with compassion, concern, and great respect for the well-being of our multigenerational fans," they wrote in their statement.
Then, on Oct. 1, the cast released another joint statement accusing Bishop of failing to comply with their wishes and "refusing to announce the cancellation" of future Little House events, claiming that Bishop is listing the castless events as "sold out" rather than canceled.
"Mr. Bishop appears to be taking advantage of Little House fans by failing to inform them and his ticket vendor, Eventbrite, that the Little House cast has permanently ended our relationship with him," they wrote. "This misrepresentation of event status has likely confused ticket buyers and complicated the process of requesting refunds."
Gilbert told PEOPLE that she had concerns about the events' promotion in early 2024. "Immediately, I knew there was an issue, because [Bishop] was promoting that I was going to be at all of these different places, and I wasn't," the actress said. "Fans were buying tickets to see me, and I knew that I wasn't going to be there."
The actress said she had to take matters into her own hands to clarify her absence from the reunions. "I started posting on social media, saying, 'Guys, I'm not going to be there,'" Gilbert explained. "Apparently people contacted him, and he told them not only was I going to be there, but I was co-producing this with him. So this is the beginning of my experience with Jack Bishop, which just meant he's cut off and I will not work with anyone who does this. Period, full stop."
Gilbert also said she has "advocated for an investigation" into Bishop's business practices.