In a recent episode of “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up,” Gypsy-Rose Blanchard addressed the intense backlash she has faced on social media following her early release from prison in December 2023. Blanchard, who gained nearly 5 million Instagram followers post-release, shared her harrowing experience of receiving multiple death threats through direct messages.
Blanchard, now 32, recounted one particularly disturbing message during the June 17 episode. The message read, “You stupid waste of space. Wait until you are canceled by real people. That’ll ruin your life. You are going to wish you are back behind bars. I can’t wait to be a part of tearing you down bit by bit. You deserve nothing but to be six feet under or locked away forever.”
The message continued, “There are real kids with cancer and real-life problems, unlike you, that just went along with it because mommy told you to.” The sender further insulted Blanchard, calling her a “poor excuse for a human being” and wishing “the worst for you.”
Blanchard expressed her concerns about the potential dangers these threats pose. “I understand that a lot of people are upset right now because I came out of prison and the first thing that I was jolted into was this sense of fame,” she said. “What happens if I get a hater that is a little too comfortable with how they feel and they come up to me and punch me or get physical with me? You know, that is a dangerous situation. When the backlash comes, am I at risk for dangerous people?”
Blanchard has been candid about the negative impact social media has had on her mental health. During a Lifetime panel in May, she told PEOPLE, “I’m very much an introvert. And so coming out and this media storm hit me, and I was … At first, I really, really was touched by the positivity that people were showing me. And then as social media began and how it always does, it turned negative. It started to have a negative effect on my mental health.”
Despite the negativity, Blanchard has decided to re-engage with social media, albeit cautiously. “But I just recently got back into it with having learned don’t read comments,” she told PEOPLE. “So I mean, I’m just trying to live my life in the best way that I can. And like I said, that’s going to include missteps, but I learned from them.”
Before her early release, Blanchard had expressed her desire to use her newfound influence for positive change. “I feel like I have been blessed with that ability to possibly create change,” she said in December 2023. “And that is what I’m trying to do.”
Blanchard was released from prison early in December 2023 after serving eight years for her involvement in the 2015 murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, in Missouri. Her then-boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, was convicted of first-degree murder for carrying out the killing, while Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Godejohn is currently serving a life sentence without parole.
Blanchard has been vocal about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, who subjected her to Munchausen by proxy. Dee Dee convinced everyone that Gypsy was a terminally ill teenager with the mind of a child, forcing her to undergo unnecessary surgeries and use a wheelchair despite being able to walk.
“Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up” premiered on June 3, with new episodes airing every Monday at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
