For those who are active on social media, you may have heard the name Gypsy Rose — a 32-year-old woman who spent her childhood as a victim of abuse, and the rest of her young adulthood in prison following the planned murder of her mother, Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. On December 28, 2023, Gypsy Rose was released from the Chillicothe Correctional Centre in Missouri, where she was finally able to live a life of freedom. However, the media has highlighted her story, with countless documentaries and movies released over the time of her sentence. Social media is flooding Gypsy Rose’s feed with love and support, but many are putting her on a pedestal. Is her newfound fame healthy?
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was a victim of Munchausen by Proxy, a condition that drives a caretaker to fixate on the imagined illnesses of a person under their care to gain attention. Her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard believed that Gypsy was suffering from a variety of chronic conditions such as leukemia, asthma, muscular dystrophy, and permanent brain damage. Most of Gypsy Rose’s childhood was spent in either the hospital or at home with her mother, being forced into surgeries and taking numerous medications that were never necessary. Doctors continued to treat her non-existent conditions, resulting in her worsening mental and physical health. Bernando Flasterstein, a pediatric neurologist, was one of the first professionals to report Dee Dee’s suspected child abuse after concluding there was nothing wrong with her daughter. As Gypsy Rose grew up, she became increasingly determined to become independent. Dee Dee would often attempt to further restrict her access to the world and became more physically abusive the more her daughter questioned her treatment. Secretly, Gypsy Rose started conversing with her new online boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. After explaining her situation, the two got very close and began plotting the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard. On the night of June 9, 2015, Nicholas went to the Blanchard household and murdered Gypsy Rose’s mother. He was initially sentenced to life in prison while Gypsy Rose was sentenced to 10 years in prison after multiple trials. She was released after serving seven years and is now celebrating her newfound freedom with her husband, Ryan Anderson. However, she was overwhelmed after learning about her presence in the media leading up to her freedom.
After her release, Gypsy Rose joined Instagram and TikTok, gaining up to 7.7 million followers almost immediately. She spoke to Entertainment Tonight (ET) before the premiere of her Lifetime docu-series, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. “So, when I came out of prison, I did not expect this giant wave of social media, you know? I am posting selfies just like the next person would or the next person not thinking anything of it. And before [you know it] it has 2 million views. I am just like, ‘OK?!'” Gypsy Rose says she does not understand her fame, and that she is “just another face in the crowd.” But, her fans do not see it that way: They are intrigued by her story in particular. However, it might not be a good thing that fans are cheering her on for her past. Gypsy Rose has expressed that she deeply regrets her past choices and she believes her mother was never “consciously malicious.” She told People Magazine, “she[Dee Dee] was a sick woman, and unfortunately, I was not educated enough to see that. She deserved to be where I am, sitting in prison doing time for criminal behavior.”
As Gypsy Rose continues her adulthood, she is determined to heal and live her life in the way she thought she never could. While her popularity on social media can provide her with much support, it can also pose as a reminder of her past.
