The Strange Reality Behind Gypsy-Rose Blanchard And The Internet's Obsession With Her
Ever since it hit the national news in 2015 the story of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard has fascinated the general public. The shocking tale of psychological abuse and then cold-blooded murder captivated a nation. But how is it that a woman who was charged with murdering her mother and has just finished serving a ten-year sentence has somehow managed to meet and marry her husband behind bars? And why has she quickly become, for want of a better description, some kind of internet celebrity?
Complex case
It should be said straight off the bat that the story of how and why Gypsy-Rose became an internet celebrity is a complex one. It’s certainly not a case of her being massively loved by the public like, say, Taylor Swift. No, the younger people from Generation Z are not “stanning” her like the Swifties do Taylor, or the Selenators do Selena Gomez. “America’s Sweetheart” she ain’t.
But Gypsy-Rose’s bizarre and frightening case is far from clear-cut. There are extraordinary — and arguably extenuating — circumstances with regard to the murder of her mom Clauddine “Dee Dee”. And to fully understand them we have to go right back to the beginning of her astonishing life.
Born in 1991
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was born on July 27, 1991, in Golden Meadow, Louisiana, the first and only child of Rod and Dee Dee Blanchard. The Rose in her name came from her father’s love of Guns N’ Roses. According to People, her parents had first met in high school.
Later they would meet again in a bowling alley bar, and the pair got together following that renewed acquaintance: you might say that Dee Dee had been bowled over by Rod. Anyway, after a short period of dating, Dee Dee discovered that she was pregnant. And as a result, she and Rod decided that they should tie the knot.
Short marriage
Rod had only been 17 at the time of the pregnancy though, while Dee Dee was seven years his senior. The young newlyweds clearly rushed into things, and the marriage wouldn’t last long at all. Indeed, they would split up before Gypsy-Rose had even entered the world.
Rod later told Buzzfeed News how his short marriage to Dee Dee was quickly quashed following a sudden realization upon turning 18. He said, “I woke up on my 18th birthday, and realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be. I wasn't in love with her, really. I knew I got married for the wrong reasons.”
Dee Dee fails to reconcile with Rod
As a result of the split from Rod, Dee Dee took Gypsy-Rose to live with her family for a period. The ditched newlywed would make several bids to rekindle her relationship with Rod, but her appeals would ultimately fall on deaf ears: they were finished as a couple.
All the same, Rod continued to see his baby daughter, actually being involved in her life to a certain extent up until she reached the age of ten. Rod would relocate only a few months after Gypsy-Rose’s birth, and ultimately remarry and have two more children with his new wife Kristy. Those children — a son named Dylan and daughter called Mia — would become Gypsy-Rose’s step-brother and -sister.