Gypsy Rose Blanchard, featured in The Act, is set to launch a Lifetime docuseries following her release from prison. Blanchard, who walked free after serving time for her involvement in her mother’s death, plans to share her story in The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, scheduled to premiere on January 5. The six-hour series is promoted as offering unprecedented access, allowing Blanchard to speak about her experiences, survival of child abuse, and journey to self-discovery. Despite her past statements, Blanchard now expresses regret, emphasizing she is not proud of her actions. Blanchard was released from prison on Thursday after being convicted in the death of her mother, Dee Dee.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard is now a free woman. The notorious figure in true crime walked out of Missouri’s Chillicothe Correctional Center at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, a little over eight years after her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, was fatally stabbed by Gypsy’s boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. As depicted in the 2017 documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest and Hulu’s dramatic adaptation The Act, prosecutors argued that the couple conspired to kill Gypsy’s mother after Dee Dee, widely believed to have been ill with Munchausen syndrome by proxy, subjected Gypsy to years of medical abuse.
Blanchard received a ten-year prison sentence for her involvement in her mother’s death, as text messages between Godejohn and Blanchard revealed discussions and plans to commit the crime together. In 2016, Blanchard confessed, 'I talked him into it,' explaining that it was the only way she could escape a home life where her mother falsely claimed Gypsy had various illnesses, including cancer, and compelled her to use a wheelchair.
In a plea arrangement, she accepted second-degree murder charges and received a ten-year prison sentence. While incarcerated, Blanchard expressed, 'I feel like I’m more free in prison than living with my mom. Because now, I’m allowed to just live like a normal woman.'
The 32-year-old’s harrowing story garnered national attention through Michelle Dean’s 2016 BuzzFeed longread, “Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom Murdered.” It later unfolded on screens in 2017 with documentarian Erin Lee Carr’s Mommy Dead and Dearest on HBO. Years after its release, Carr's film continues to be featured on “best true crime documentary” lists.
This was succeeded by The Act, Michelle Dean’s 2019 Hulu adaptation of her prior reporting, featuring Joey King as Gypsy and Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee. According to King, she extensively watched Carr’s documentary, stating she watched it “no less than 15 times.” Through this and other research, King concluded that Blanchard “deserves to be free and deserves to be in therapy, not behind bars.”
“I hope that when she gets out one day and if she does watch the show that she will hopefully find the good in the show as far as it really showcasing her in a sense and really showcasing how much of a victim she was,” King expressed. “'Cause she really was a victim. Her life—no one deserves the life that she had.”
Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been released from prison
Dean appeared to echo King’s sentiments, stating, “I don’t really think that the best place for Gypsy is prison.
What this case highlights is that the justice system isn’t equipped to handle cases of this level of complexity,” Dean remarked. “She received a 10-year sentence [because] she at least pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but nevertheless, it’s still a lengthy time in jail, or in prison, and it’s a substantial period without potentially appropriate treatment.
While neither King nor Dean have made a public statement on Blanchard’s release this week, Carr celebrated the news on Instagram. “Thus ends a chapter that started with extreme mental, emotional and physical torture for Gypsy and ended in the most tragic way with the death of her mother and abuser Dee Dee Blanchard," Carr wrote.
“Thank you … for sharing your story with me,” Carr wrote, addressing Blanchard. “I wish you nothing but the best today and can’t wait to see you in person.” (Vanity Fair reached out to Carr for comment but has not received a response as of publication time.)
Blanchard has quickly resumed her activities since her release. Following her first selfie captioned “First selfie of freedom!” posted from a hotel room, she is actively promoting The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a Lifetime docuseries scheduled to premiere on January 5.
Touted as providing “unprecedented access” to Blanchard, the network emphasizes that the six-hour series will be the initial platform allowing Blanchard to narrate her story in her own way. In promotional materials, Blanchard is quoted as expressing, “After a lifetime of silence, I finally get to use my voice to share my story and speak my truth.”
Describing herself as a survivor of relentless child abuse, Blanchard states that the docuseries chronicles her quest for liberation and journey through self-discovery. She asserts, “I am unapologetically myself and unafraid to expose the hidden parts of my life that have never been revealed until now.”
While the series will shed light on various aspects of her life, one aspect that won’t be revisited are the statements she made at the time of her mother’s death. In a Facebook post that remained as of Thursday, Blanchard wrote, “That Bitch is dead!” after Godejohn killed her mother. In a subsequent comment, she wrote, “I fucken slashed that fat pig … her scream was soooo fucken loud lol.” However, Blanchard now emphasizes to People, “No one will ever hear me say I’m proud of what I did or I’m glad that she’s dead.”
“I’m not proud of what I did. I regret it every single day."
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