?Gypsy Rose Blanchard has become an instant social media giant since her release.
via: People
Perhaps the world’s most famous parolee, she is intent on using whatever influence she might have for good.
“I feel like I have been blessed with that ability to possibly create change,” Gypsy told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview shortly before her release. “And that is what I’m trying to do.”
Early Thursday morning, Gypsy was released from prison in Missouri, having served seven years for the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who was stabbed to death in 2015. Gypsy is widely believed to have been a victim of Munchausen by proxy, a form of child abuse that involves a guardian exaggerating or inducing illness in order to gain sympathy.
Dee Dee, who had convinced people in her life that her daughter was terminally ill, is said to have subjected Gypsy to painful medical treatments that were never needed.
Gypsy admitted in 2016 to killing her mother with Nicholas Godejohn, her then-boyfriend. Gypsy pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was granted parole earlier this year. Godejohn was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison without parole, court records indicate.
Last year, while still in prison, Gypsy married Ryan Scott Anderson, a special education teacher from Louisiana, who picked her up at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday as she was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center.
Gypsy’s case attracted national attention, and she has since become the subject of multiple documentaries and series. It has vaulted her to a level of fame she says she never desired. Aware that many might describe her as “infamous,” Gypsy insists she isn’t seeking fame.
“I was never one of those children that wanted to be famous,” she tells PEOPLE. “I didn’t want to be a singer. I didn’t want to be an actress. I wanted to be something that made a difference.”
Now, as she embarks on her post-prison life, her goal is to do just that. Gypsy tells PEOPLE she is hoping to build up followers on her Instagram and TikTok accounts as she seeks to define her platform.
“I feel like I have been blessed with a platform and the ability to possibly create change, and that is what I’m trying to do,” she says.
On her verified Instagram account, which currently has over 4.7 million followers, her bio says she is “advocating awareness about Munchausen syndrome by proxy.”
“The choice that I made to commit murder was never the right choice,” she says. “So my mission now is to take what I’ve done and what [my mom] did and make it worth something. So I think it’s really important for me to get out as much awareness about Munchausen by proxy as I can and really try to focus in on mental health.”
Gypsy is also set to release a new ebook, titled Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom, as well as tell her own story in the new Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, premiering Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. eastern.
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