After being released from a Missouri correctional facility, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard is now liberated and gaining traction on social media. Commencing Friday, she will undergo a new form of emancipation by candidly narrating the profound medical, emotional, and physical maltreatment inflicted upon her by her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, and her rationalization for resorting to murder.
In Lifetime’s fresh six-part docuseries, “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” (Friday through Sunday, 8 EST/PST), she articulates, “The most cherished memory in my entire existence is the day I was admitted to prison and can go out to the picnic tables, and I’m like, ‘I’m free. I’m free to have friends. I’m free to do what I want,’“ She acknowledges the constraints but also acknowledges the freedom it brought her.
The unfathomable ordeal involved Dee Dee continuously shaving Gypsy-Rose’s head to reinforce a concocted leukemia diagnosis, coercing her to use a wheelchair, and subjecting her to unnecessary medical procedures. These events, including Dee Dee’s eventual demise, were previously covered in HBO’s 2017 documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest” and Hulu’s 2019 limited drama series “The Act,” featuring Joey King and Patricia Arquette.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been liberated from prison and now commands widespread attention.
Influenced by Gypsy-Rose, her partner Nick Godejohn fatally assaulted Dee Dee on June 9, 2015 at their Springfield, Missouri residence. Godejohn received a life sentence without the possibility of parole, while Gypsy-Rose was released on December 28 after serving 8 1/2 years of her 10-year sentence.
For the Lifetime docuseries, filmmakers spent 18 months documenting Gypsy-Rose’s life and background during her incarceration at Chillicothe (Missouri) Correctional Center. “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” introduces illuminating interviews with Gypsy-Rose’s father Rod Blanchard; her stepmother Kristy Blanchard; Dee Dee’s father Claude Pitre; her brother Evans Pitre; and Gypsy-Rose’s pediatrician, Dr. Robert Steele.
Here are the key revelations from the initial night. (This story will be updated with revelations from the subsequent two nights.)
Where to find it:How to watch and stream ‘The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’ Lifetime special
Dee Dee’s Fabrication of Gypsy-Rose’s Health Issues
Kristy recounts that when Gypsy-Rose was around 8 years old, Dee Dee asserted that Gypsy-Rose had been diagnosed with leukemia, which Kristy did not question. Rod and Dee Dee tied the knot when Rod was still a teenager and Dee Dee was in her early 20s after conceiving Gypsy-Rose in 1991. Their marriage swiftly disintegrated, and Rod only met Gypsy-Rose a few times a year.
Upon relocating from their native Louisiana to Missouri following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005, Gypsy-Rose initiated consultations with Steele, the pediatrician. Steele mentions that Dee Dee never furnished Gypsy-Rose’s medical records, asserting that they were lost due to Katrina.
Steele reveals that Dee Dee informed him about Gypsy-Rose’s purported seizure disorder, muscular dystrophy, and cancer history, yet he never observed any substantiation of these ailments. Additionally, Gypsy-Rose underwent surgery to remove her salivary glands to alleviate excessive drooling, a procedure she attributes to Dee Dee’s rubbing Orajel on her mouth. As a consequence of the surgery, Gypsy-Rose lost several teeth.
Gypsy-Rose admits that she refrained from disclosing Dee Dee’s actions due to her fear of her mother and her yearning for attention. The relationship alternated between being very affectionate, as she was submissive and obedient, and being rebellious and subsequently punished for it,” she expressed in the docuseries. She pointed out that after obeying her mother, they would either go to Toys ‘R’ Us, or her mom would purchase a new dress for her, following which she would receive affection and love.
Gypsy-Rose Accuses her Grandfather of Exploitation
After Dee Dee sustained severe injuries in a car accident in 2000, Gypsy-Rose took refuge with her grandfather, Claude Pitre, while her mother recuperated in the hospital. During this period, Gypsy-Rose alleges that her grandfather exploited her.
She vocalizes, “He subjected me to sexual acts, compelled me to touch him, and touched me.”
When questioned about the alleged abuse, Pitre refutes the claims on camera and alleges that Gypsy-Rose behaved inappropriately toward him. “She initiated that when she was about 4 years old,” he stated. “I instructed her not to do that.” Evans Pitre, Pitre’s son, suspects that the alleged abuse may have been implanted in Gypsy-Rose’s mind by her mother, but Gypsy-Rose asserts that it unequivocally occurred.
Gypsy-Rose Attempted to Flee before her Mother’s Demise
In 2011, after encountering a man named Dan, then 36 years old, at a sci-fi convention, Gypsy-Rose devised a plan to escape her mother’s residence, as she had recently discovered her Medicaid card and realized she was 19, contrary to the 15 years her mother claimed.
She resolved to seek refuge at Dan’s farm in Arkansas. Accordingly, she packed a few costumes (as she lacked proper attire) and absconded with money stolen from her mother. However, upon reaching Dan’s friend’s house, where Dan resided, it was revealed that he was on parole and unable to leave Missouri.
