On December 28, 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center after serving an 8-year sentence. Her release has sparked both excitement among fans and surprise from critics as she aims to share her story with the world.
At 32 years old, Blanchard is one of the most well-known victims of Munchausen by proxy, a syndrome in which a caregiver, typically a parent, fabricates or induces illness in a dependent, often their child, to gain attention or sympathy. This manipulation includes falsifying medical records and deceiving others into believing the child is genuinely ill, sometimes even causing harm to the child to maintain the illusion.
Gypsy endured her mother Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard’s abuse from 1991 to 2015. Dee Dee convinced the world that Gypsy suffered from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, asthma, autism, and severe allergies. She achieved this through “doctor shopping,” which involves switching doctors and altering medical information to avoid suspicion. Dee Dee also claimed records were lost during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which facilitated her deception. In 2008, a house was even provided for Dee Dee based on the false narrative of Gypsy’s illnesses.
In the summer of 2015, Gypsy and her then-boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, planned and carried out the murder of her mother. They were both arrested and sentenced later that year, following a failed escape attempt that resulted in Gypsy being shackled to a bed.
The subject of her arrest has been a topic of interest, and over the years excitement has grown over her release because many empathize with her story. However, among her supporters are people who question whether or not Gypsy should be celebrated as a victim.
The call for the release of Blanchard is one of the most interesting cases of social media involvement because of how hotly debated the subject is. Support for Blanchard was rampant and there were celebrations and parties on her release day.
This support, although mainly confined to the perimeters of the internet, demonstrated the support behind Blanchard and her new path to freedom.
For many people, Blanchard’s actions of planning the murder were motivated by self-defense because in her mind there were no other options. Previous escape attempts were futile, and her mother had convinced everyone around her that Gypsy had the mental capacity of a seven-year-old. To many, killing DeDe might have been the only way to truly escape her.
Many were introduced to Blanchard’s case through the hit drama series “The Act” which recounts her story with some creative liberties. Despite the success of the show, she wasn’t awarded any money and wasn’t able to consent to its creation.
“I am unable to watch The Act,” says Blanchard. “However, I feel it is very unfair and unprofessional that producers and co-producer Michelle Dean have used my actual name and story without my consent, and the life rights to do so.”
A freshman friend of mine who recently learned about Blanchard, who would like to remain anonymous, believes that Blanchard deserves to be free, saying, “She was a young girl under the control of her mother and surrounded by a fan base of people who thought she was sick.
“I don’t believe she should go to jail, but others probably do. But what they fail to understand is that she had no other choice. The murder of her mother was not by any means a good or legal thing, but to me, it’s justified to some degree.”
However, it’s also debated that Blanchard’s actions were not punished sufficiently and that her freedom was not earned. One of these justifications is the concept of Gypsy manipulating Godejohn, who has been diagnosed with autism and has a criminal record. There is some strength to this opinion because Blanchard claimed to have “talked him into it“ at his trial.
Juliet, who goes by Julie, a student at Jefferson High School, Oregon believes, “She could have done more than just kill her mom, she had a year to plan, and now people are praising her on TikTok because she sent her boyfriend to prison forever, it’s just kinda gross.”
“Now she’s popping up everywhere like she’s a celebrity. She seems like a nice person, but she’s parading on TV like she didn’t do a bunch of messed up stuff, she’s not just the victim, she’s a person who made mistakes that people are ignoring ‘cause she’s an ‘icon.’”
But what’s most important about these opinions is that they contribute to the biggest conversation surrounding her case. Why is her case important to people?
Currently, Blanchard is using her platform to spread awareness about her situation, already having been on shows like Dr.Phil, Good Morning America, and NewsNation. Her reach is far now that she’s able to speak about her life, bringing attention to the fact that most victims either die or are stunted for the rest of their life and that it’s more common than people might assume.
Her story represents someone who lives to tell the tale of their suffering, someone who can bring awareness to her nightmarish situation not from a place of their own experiences. Her outlook on life is to have a family and live normally, and she’s an inspiration not necessarily for her actions, but for her goal to move forward. What she did in the past will forever be debated as long as there is speculation, but what’s undeniable is the fact that her growth as a person is evident and that she is just as human and real as you and me.
“Nobody will ever hear me say I’m glad she’s dead or I’m proud of what I did,” she said, “I regret it every single day.”
People care about Gypsy Rose Blanchard because she deserves so much better than what she’s had to deal with for the past 32 years, and that acknowledgment just goes to show how impactful empathy can be, how no one should ever have to go through what Gypsy Rose had to endure.
