Gypsy posing for a picture with her mother Dee Dee Blanchard in a photo shared in a 2015 Facebook post from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office after Dee Dee was discovered dead. Photo courtesy of Greene County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook

Ask anyone within five feet of you if they know who Gypsy-Rose Blanchard is. Nine times out of ten, they’ll recall her recent release from prison and enthusiastically exclaim, “Yes!” 

Gypsy has become 2024’s it-girl within a week of the new year. With video edits, fan art, and fan pages made for her on Instagram and TikTok, Gypsy is Gen Z’s new star.

Gypsy rose to fame after she killed her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, in 2015. Despite what it sounds like, though, Gen Z is not “stanning” a cold-hearted murderer – throughout her entire childhood, Gypsy endured psychological, physical, and verbal abuse. 

According to Dee Dee, Gypsy suffered from life-threatening conditions like leukemia, asthma, and muscular dystrophy. Gypsy believed her, and was forced to pretend she was disabled and chronically ill. 

Dee Dee also lied about Gypsy’s age and told doctors Gypsy had the “mental capacity of a seven-year-old due to brain damage” because of her premature birth. As a result, Gypsy was subjected to unnecessary surgery and medication.

Doctors who examined Gypsy suspected Dee Dee had “factitious disorder imposed on another,” a mental disorder where a caretaker overstates or fakes illness in someone under their care for sympathy. Dee Dee’s family believed she killed her stepmother and questioned her about her treatment of Gypsy. Dee Dee’s response? Changing her name.

Despite Dee Dee’s sketchy past, most people believed her scheme, so the Blanchards benefited from charities like Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

Later in 2012, Gypsy met Nicholas Godejohn online. Godejohn wanted to free Gypsy from her mother’s control, and the two made a plan to kill Dee Dee. In an act of desperation, Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee in 2015 and was convicted of first-degree murder.

Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, while Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and served eight years of her 10-year sentence. 

In an interview with People, Gypsy expressed remorse for her mother’s murder. “Nobody will ever hear me say I’m glad [Dee Dee is] dead or I’m proud of what I did. I regret it every single day.”

Most netizens are on Gypsy’s side, viewing her as a victim of her mother’s abuse. Others are concerned that she is being exploited by the media while in a vulnerable position. And a select few are hearing her name for the first time. 

Since Gypsy’s life went public, many television shows and movies about her have been created. The HBO documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest” (2017) and Hulu miniseries The Act (2019) have brought attention to Gypsy’s case.

Gypsy admitted Joey King “nailed” her role in The Act. But she also clarified some aspects of the show were inaccurate and dramatized, especially those surrounding her private love life. She shared that she has avoided watching them, fearing they would be “emotionally traumatizing.”

Gypsy currently boasts 6.5 million followers on Instagram where she shares pictures of her family and frequent career updates. Her comments are filled with support ranging from “She may be out of prison but she’s still serving 24/7” to “I’ll be watching miss queen miss gypsy miss french tips miss lashes pookie MUAH.”

Most recently, Gypsy’s own comment addressing her love for her boyfriend and her unbothered attitude toward her haters has gone viral.

Gypsy wrote, “Ryan, don’t listen to the haters … If you get likes and good comments great, if you get hate then whatever because THEY DON’T MATTER … they jealous because you are rocking my world every night … happy wife happy life.”

Her comment received 213,870 likes while the post itself only received 44,281. Fans found her hearty response entertaining, calling her a queen and admiring her honesty. 

As the most famous case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, Gypsy is working as a public speaker on a mission to spread awareness about her experience.

Those wanting to learn more about Gypsy (and Dee Dee) should keep their eyes peeled for the six-hour Lifetime special “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” and pre-order her memoir, Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom.