As of Dec. 28, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released after serving eight years in prison for persuading her online boyfriend to murder her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. 

For months following Gypsy Rose’s release, social media has been in a frenzy counting the days until her discharge. Since her release, Gypsy Rose has opened social media accounts leading to an accumulated audience looking forward to seeing what is next for her.

But… why are we celebrating the release of Gypsy Rose?

For those unaware of the case, Gypsy Rose spent her childhood believing she was suffering from multiple chronic illnesses (leukemia, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, and asthma to name a few) and was subjected to heavily prescribed medications, bound to using a wheelchair, fed through a feeding tube, and put through multiple surgeries. 

The truth was, Gypsy Rose was perfectly healthy.

For over 20 years, Dee Dee had manipulated doctors and even her daughter into believing Gypsy Rose was chronically ill and disabled. Gypsy Rose desired to live the normal life she longed for, but her mother would punish her for going against her by physically abusing her. Gypsy had been threatened, beaten, starved, and chained to a bed by her mother.

So why did Dee Dee make everyone believe Gypsy Rose was ill?

After examining the case, experts have concluded that Dee Dee must have suffered from Munchausen by Proxy. This mental disorder causes an individual to act as though the person they’re caring for is ill when they aren’t. 

Unfortunately, Gypsy was a victim of Munchausen by Proxy. 

However, the plot thickens when Gypsy Rose meets Nicholas Godejohn through an online Christian dating app in 2012. The two began to date secretly, but their relationship quickly became more of a murder plot than actual love. Gypsy Rose had convinced Nicholas to kill her mother, Dee Dee so that she could escape from her mother’s abuse.

On June 14, 2015, Dee Dee Blanchard was found in her home with multiple stab wounds and pronounced dead at the scene.

Nicholas Godejohn was sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder, and Gypsy Rose was sentenced to 10 years in prison (which was eventually reduced to 8 ½ years) for second-degree murder.

Since Gypsy Rose was locked up, many have sympathized with her story. Even I have grown teary-eyed just thinking about the abuse Gypsy Rose had to go through with her mother. A mother whose job is to protect you, yet she was the one whom Gypsy Rose needed protection from.

 However, I don’t believe that we should be applauding Gypsy Rose for having a role in murdering her mother and claiming it as her escape. We glorify bad behavior if we think Gypsy Rose had every right to do what she did. Many murderers went through abuse, but we aren’t going around giving excuses for what they did. Though Gypsy Rose wasn’t the one who necessarily murdered her mother, Dee Dee wouldn’t have been killed if it wasn’t for Gypsy Rose. 

I’m aware that many may view the case as Gypsy Rose using self-defense. However, U.S. self-defense laws state that a person can only use as much force in response to what is being brought upon them. For example, if a person is being attacked through punches, they have the authority to use punches back as self-defense. 

In Gypsy Rose’s case, she wasn’t put in a life-threatening situation that night. Her mother was not trying to stab her with a knife that night. Gypsy Rose had wanted her gone… for good.

How far can sympathy go for Gypsy Rose Blanchard?