After being arrested in 2015 for the murder of her mother, Blanchard is finally free.
She was released from prison on December 28, 2023, after serving seven years of a ten-year sentence and she’s been busy.
The biggest of all the news released is that Blanchard got married to her current husband, Ryan Anderson. The pair began talking in 2020 and got married in July of 2022 while Blanchard was still in prison.
In prison, she gained an education and earned a General Educational Development (GED).
Blanchard has been active on social media, which is flooded with love from people who have followed her case since her release. She’s posted photos of herself with family and friends and updated people on what she’s done since exiting prison.
So far she’s seen The Cursed Child on Broadway, visited Times Square, went to NFL games, and much more.
“It’s good she’s living a normal life,” expressed Madisen Dullen, 11, “Her case was very complicated because of the circumstances surrounding her crime, but she deserves to be free.”
Blanchard has taken to telling her story by releasing a television special airing on Lifetime titled “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard,” an ebook “Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom” this January on Apple Books, in Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Gooogle Play Store, and Kobo.
Hulu came out with the TV show The Act in 2019, three years after Rose Blanchard was arrested. It gained popularity and, according to Business Insider, made her life incredibly difficult.
There was no consultation with Rose Blanchard before the show was made and she received no compensation for it. She began to revive attention in prison from inmates, was treated differently by officers, and was even asked for autographs. Strangers began to reach out to Rose Blanchard and she was put in solitary confinement for a short while after someone posted on social media about breaking her out.
The story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard is unusual with its focus being on Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP) a mental illness and a form of child abuse. MSP is a disorder where a parent or guardian makes up fake or causes real symptoms and illness to make the child appear sick. It’s categorized as attention-seeking behavior, but there is no known cause.
An article on the website Biography written by Sara Kettler states, “Experts believe Dee Dee’s behavior stemmed from the mental disorder Munchausen syndrome by proxy; because Dee Dee wanted to be a caretaker, she feigned and induced illness in her daughter.”
Her mother claimed Rose Blanchard had many illnesses including leukemia, muscular dystrophy, seizures, visual problems, hearing issues, and asthma.
She forced Blanchard to be wheelchair-bound with a feeding tube and forced her to have unnecessary things throughout her childhood. This included the removal of her teeth, removal of her saliva glands, and multiple eye surgeries.
“This case is different from other murder cases because of its spotlight on Munchausen by proxy,” states Eli Badillo,12, “I think of it not as Ted Bundy or Dahmer’s story but rather a victim’s retort.”
The abuse Blancahred faced was both mental and physical. At some point she tried to run away and, “Dee Dee smashed her computer and physically restrained her to her bed after they returned home,” according to Biography, “Gypsy has also stated her mother would sometimes hit her and deny her food.”
Dr. Marc Feldman, a Munchausen syndrome expert, states “The control was total in the same sense that the control of a kidnapped victim sometimes is total. Her daughter was, in essence, a hostage, and I think we can understand the crime that occurred subsequently in terms of a hostage trying to gain escape,” when talking about Blanchard according to Biography.
People have brought to question if it’s fair that Nicholas Godejohn is still in prison when Blanchard is walking free. While Godejohn committed the physical act of the murder, he did so for Blanchard and went as far as to say it was out of love. He was sentenced to life in prison.
“Gypsy is not a killer in my eyes, but rather a victim of abuse and manipulation. As for her boyfriend, I think he’s just a killer,” Badillo expressed.
The main controversy behind Godejohn’s imprisonment is the argument that he wasn’t mentally well. NBC Chicago states that his attorneys claimed he was “autistic and therefore does not have the mental capabilities required for premeditation,” when they spoke on the murder being planned for over a year. Blanchard admitted to talking him into it.
Dullen expressed, “I think they manipulated each other because they were both mentally ill. Him still being in jail is ‘fair’ in the same way that if Gypsy had done the physical act of killing her mother, she would still be in jail.”
Blanchard has expressed regret in many interviews, claiming she isn’t proud of what she did, talking about her past mistakes, and her lif in prison. Such as her interview with A&E.
“If I had another chance to redo everything, I don’t know if I would go back to when I was a child and tell my aunts and uncles that I’m not sick and mommy makes me sick,” says Gypsy in an interview with People, “or, if I would travel back to just the point of that conversation with Nick and tell him, ‘You know what, I’m going to go tell the police everything.’ I kind of struggle with that.”
What will happen in the future regarding Godejohn is still unclear. What can be said for certain is Blanchard is currently living her best life finally being free.
