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Louise Thomas
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Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Kim Kardashian had a candid conversation about prison reform during the latest episode of The Kardashians.
The Skims founder, 43, visited Blanchard at the Four Seasons Hotel in New Orleans three weeks after her release from prison in December 2023. The meet-up occurred after Blanchard had voiced her interest in working with Kardashian following her release from the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri. Back in November 2023, one month before she was freed, Blanchard thanked Kardashian for including the HBO documentary, Mommy Dead and Dearest, in her true crime show recommendations.
“Thanks @kimkardashian for the shout out within this list to my 2017 documentary ‘HBO’s Mommy Dead and Dearest,’” she tweeted. “Maybe we should unite forces together to make real change within the justice system.”
In the episode, which dropped on Hulu in the US on July 11, Kardashian is seen sitting in a car and speaking to Reform Alliance’s Michael Rubin over the phone. The reality TV star explained that she hopes to enlist Blanchard in becoming “really impactful with, like, youth and abuse.”
“Gypsy Rose Blanchard was just released from prison for being involved in the murder of her mother,” Kardashian said in a confessional during the episode. “How sick must you be as a mother that you would let your child have surgery for your own gain?”
In 2016, Blanchard pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. An investigation later found that Blanchard was abused by her mother, who forced her to pretend she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy, and other serious illnesses. Blanchard served eight years of her prison sentence.
“I’m gonna send you a link, she’s the most well-known person that’s just gotten out of prison. Her mother had Munchausen-by-proxy, she would shave her head and act like she had cancer her whole life,” Kardashian told Rubin over the phone, adding: “She tweeted me and here I am.”
“I really think she wants to get involved. She could be really impactful with, like, youth and abuse,” the Keeping Up with the Kardashians alum continued. “I want to see what she wants to do in prison reform. I heard she wants to get in it and I can guide her of, you know, exactly where to go and how she can help.”
The episode then cut to Kardashian knocking on Blanchard’s hotel room door at the Four Seasons. “Hi, Gypsy,” said Kardashian, dressed in a brown shearling-lined coat.
“Hi!” Blanchard enthusiastically replied and gave her a hug.
As the pair sat inside Blanchard’s hotel room, the 32-year-old opened up about the eight years she spent in prison in Missouri and her dreams for rehabiliation. Blanchard, who recently announced she’s pregnant with her first child, told Kardashian that the first meal she ate following her release was steak, which she tried for the very first time.
“I’ve been following your case for a long time,” Kardashian told Blanchard. “I wouldn’t want to come and, you know, really meet with someone that I feel like can make an impact, just for like the sensation of the case.”
“I recognize that, like, you can make a big difference, because you can really articulate what you went through, and how you can get through it,” she said.
At that point, Blanchard said she gives Kardashian “massive kudos” because “a lot of people are afraid of touching me as a topic because I’m too controversial.”
“This has been a rollercoaster ride,” Blanchard continued. “I’m blessed to be given a second chance, because when I was going through what I was going through, nobody ever talked about Munchausen-by-proxy. No one was ever a guiding light for me. You know, I look back at things I could have done differently and, like, the one thing that people always ask me is: ‘Why didn’t you just stand up? Why didn’t you just call the police?’
“Now, looking back on it, I’m like, I could have done things a lot differently and it would have ended with my mother being in prison,” she said. “Did she deserve prison? Yes.”
Blanchard also revealed that she had asked officials at the Chillicothe Correctional Center if she could receive one-on-one therapy during her sentence, to “really deal with the trauma that I went through,” but later received a notice that she didn’t qualify.
In response, Kardashian said: “You would think that they would want to set you up and give you all of the tools that you would need to be as mentally stable and to be as healed as possible and to come home to society. Why wouldn’t they set up all these programs? It just blows my mind.”
She later emphasized her shock in her confessional, stating how it was a “problem” that Blanchard was unable to receive one-on-one therapy during her prison sentence. “I think that ultimately we want to bring people home that are rehabilitated, and how can we do that if it doesn’t start with giving them the tools and having them go through therapy before they get home?” Kardashian said.
The billionaire mogul then offered to help Blanchard after she told Kardashian that she was unable to sign a lease for a residence due to a background check. “I can totally help you with that, because I had no clue and I think I figured out the best team that can possibly help people and I’m happy to introduce you to all of them,” Kardashian said.
“I would appreciate that,” Blanchard replied, as the reality TV star noted: “We’ll guide you in the right direction and what to do to help.”
“I think she’s a perfect person to talk to a younger generation, so hopefully with her help, we can try to bring therapy into more prisons and try to change the way that the system operates,” Kardashian added in a confessional. “I hope that Gypsy just follows her heart. I hope she heals, first and foremost, and I hope that she just follows her path of just wanting to help other people.”
Kardashian has become well-known for her ongoing work in criminal justice reform. She’s been on a journey to become a lawyer since 2019. In December 2021, Kardashian announced she passed California’s “baby bar” law exam after previously failing three times. Since then, she has advocated for pardons for several non-violent offenders facing the death penalty.
In 2015, Blanchard’s then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, stabbed her mother Dee Dee at least 17 times at her home in Springfield, Missouri, as Blanchard hid in a bathroom during the assault. Godejohn and Blanchard reportedly stole money from Dee Dee, before traveling to Wisconsin by bus. Dee Dee’s body was found after authorities were alerted of a post on her Facebook page - which read, “That B*** is dead!” - and Blanchard and Godejohn were later arrested and charged with murder.
Prosecutors said Dee Dee had Munchausen syndrome by proxy – a psychological disorder where parents fabricate their child’s illness, according to the National Institutes of Health – and subjected her daughter to unnecessary medical treatments over two decades. Blanchard testified in court that Dee Dee had falsely claimed she suffered from conditions such as leukemia and muscular dystrophy. In a 2017 interview with Dr. Phil, she claimed that her mother also shaved her head and forced her to eat through a feeding tube.
Following her release from prison, Blanchard filed for divorce from her husband, Ryan Anderson, in April. The former couple were married in July 2022 during a small ceremony at Missouri’s Chillicothe Correctional Center. On July 9, Blanchard announced she is expecting her first child with ex-fiancé Ken Urker. The couple, who were previously engaged in 2019, reunited in April after Blanchard’s separation from Anderson.
