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The Aztec

The Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard: Gypsy-Rose’s Release

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is an American author, convicted of second-degree murder at the age of 23, and is now one of this year’s hottest internet sensations. Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was released on parole from the Chillicothe Correctional Center early Thursday morning, December 28th, 2023, after serving eight years of her 10 year sentence.

After pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard ran away with her then boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. Dee Dee Blanchard suffered from Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, convincing everyone  that  Gypsy-Rose Blanchard had multiple illnesses, such as Leukemia and muscular dystrophy. She even convinced Gypsy-Rose Blanchard of this.

Due to the constant abuse, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard convinced Godejohn, on June 9, 2015 to murder her mother for trying to keep them apart. In 2016, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was brought before a court where she pleaded guilty to assisting Godejohn in her mother’s death. She said in an interview with the Guardian, “I didn’t want her dead. I just wanted out of my situation and I thought that was the only way out.” 

The Act, a 2019 limited Drama series on the streaming platform Hulu was developed after Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s extremely popular case in 2016. Though Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s case was already quite widespread and televised, The Act gave it a larger audience revealing the details of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s life.

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was portrayed by Joey King, Patricia Arquette played Dee Dee Blanchard, and Calum Worthy played Godejohn. Based on the actual events, The Act follows the Blanchards’ life after their home is catastrophically destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As they relocate to Aurora, Missouri, Dee Dee Blanchard claims that all of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s medical records were also destroyed, freeing room for her to deceive a young Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and medical professionals that Gypsy-Rose Blanchard had previously been diagnosed with leukemia, and muscular dystrophy. Providing both Dee Dee Blanchard and Gypsy-Rose Blanchard with lots of attention, many circles were convinced of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s alleged conditions and sympathized for the two of them, including many foundations that seeked to help support them, such as the Make-A-Wish foundation, and Habitat for Humanity who were responsible for building the Blanchards their new home in Missouri.

While most were convinced, some medical professionals found that the conditions that Dee Dee Blanchard alleged about the health of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard were false, and even contacted authorities. Reports found that the Blanchards even visited over 150 medical professionals to further the believability of Dee Dee Blanchard’s deceits, a practice known as ‘doctor shopping.’ Dee Dee Blanchard destroyed Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s phone, and took away Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s access to the internet, and limited her contact with other people, however this did not stop Gypsy-Rose Blanchard from communicating on her computer while Dee Dee Blanchard was asleep, and messaging Godejohn, who became Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s boyfriend.

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and Godejohn devised a plan to meet in person right under Dee Dee Blanchard’s nose by organizing that they would be seeing the same movie at the same cinema, in the same auditorium, even sitting right next to each other. Despite that, Godejohn hoped to win over Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s mother’s approval, Dee Dee Blanchard was creeped out by his affinity for her daughter. It was soon after this that Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and Godejohn devised another plan in which was to murder her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. After following through with their plan, Godejohn and Gypsy-Rose Blanchard fled to Wisconsin. Authorities investigated, and found Gypsy-Rose Blanchard unharmed before arresting her.

Now, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard has starred in the Lifetime series “The Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” in order to finally tell her own story and is now happily living in Louisiana with her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, whom she married in 2022 while still serving time in prison. The lovebirds met when Anderson made a deal with his friend after watching “The Act”, agreeing to write to Gypsy-Rose Blanchard if his friend wrote to Joe Exotic, star of the Netflix show “Tiger King.”

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard surprisingly took interest in Anderson through his letter, taking note of his genuineness and their common factor of living in Louisiana. Gypsy-Rose Blanchard had previously been engaged to another before declining to be with Anderson. In September of 2023, it was confirmed that Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was to be granted parole on December 28, 2023– just three days after Christmas. Since her parole announcement, the internet has been anticipating her release, even posting countdowns, and more to celebrate Gypsy-Rose Blanchard. Now, being released on parole, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard has dipped her feet into freedom by going on spa days with her family, traveling to places, and starring in dozens of interviews, some even with her husband.

She has even revealed that she arranged plans to attend a Kansas City Chiefs [football] game in hopes that she will meet Taylor Swift, who has recently been known to appear at Chiefs games in order to support her boyfriend on the team, Travis Kelce— however, this was plan was canceled as her attorney advised her that she is to keep away from Kansas or Missouri, as her case is especially popular at the moment, and her meeting Swift may become a safety hazard for both of them. This has not spoiled Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s freedom, and as of January 7, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard even starred in a new six-hour Lifetime documentary, “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” where she shares more dark and shocking details about her story with the world.

The documentary can be streamed on Lifetime or on Hulu.

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About the Contributors
Brian Blackwater
Brian Blackwater, Staff Writer
Brian Blackwater is a mixed junior student at Mark Keppel. His unique last name comes from Native American descent. Brian joined journalism to expand his writing skills, and learn more about the world, as well as spread his own knowledge. In his free time, he likes to exercise, read, write, or listen to music. His favorite music genres are R&B, Rap, Pop, Synth-pop, etc. Some of his interests include Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Disney, Studio Ghibli, pop culture or sports.
Samantha Rios
Samantha Rios, Staff Writer
Samantha Rios is a senior at MKHS. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry, listening to music, reading, styling clothes, and binge watching shows she had seen a million times (she’s incredibly obsessed with “New Girl”) already. Samantha loves writing and is passionate about finding stories and hearing about what people have to say. She is a very bubbly and extroverted person, so she’s always happy to meet new people or see a familiar face.

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