Since her release from prison on Dec. 28, 2023, the media has been blowing up with the press revolving around Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Blanchard was a victim of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, in which her mother persuaded her and everyone they came in contact with that Blanchard was terminally ill when she was, in fact, healthy. Blanchard’s mother had doctors convinced she had a wide variety of illnesses varying from sleep apnea to leukemia to muscular dystrophy and more. This led to Blanchard’s participation in the murder of her mother on June 9, 2015 and sentence of 10 years in prison, for which she was let out early on parole. 

At first, with the announcement of her release date, I was excited for Blanchard to get to experience freedom for the first time. I watched a ton of documentaries and YouTube videos about her case, explaining everything and my whole “For You” page on TikTok was filled with videos about it. Since her release, Blanchard has put herself out there on social media and has gained even more attention. Her following count on Instagram is up to 8.3 million and she always seems to have people watching her, cameras following her and comments made about her. 

But as excited as I was initially and although I don’t believe Blanchard is a bad person in general or stupid for putting herself out there in the media, her following has gotten too large and too involved. People have created her into memes on TikTok and Instagram, and they have completely invaded her newfound freedom. I have even seen TikTok videos and comments sexualizing her, making “thirst trap” edits of her, when she has mentioned in her Lifetime Docuseries, “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard,” that she went through a lot of sexual abuse as a child. Another creepy trend I have seen on social media recently is the comparison of the appearance of her husband to that of her mother’s, saying she married the male version of her mother. If Blanchard were to see these comments made—and it’s likely she already has—it would cause discomfort at best, and at worst, maybe even harm her marriage and cause Blanchard to relive moments of her childhood more often. 

Ultimately, over the past couple months, I have realized Blanchard deserves to be given privacy and be treated with respect. Although I still follow her social media platforms, I don’t—and have never—participated in the extreme glorification and objectification that others are.  I urge her fanbase to stop molding her new life into what they want it to be and understand that she is a real person, with real trauma. Yes, Blanchard’s release is exciting and entertaining, however she needs to be able to be free from constant nagging from the media.