The newest trending hashtag on TikTok, #TipsyforGypsy, surrounds the newly released prisoner, Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Online social media users are celebrating her freedom by cheers-ing to her while getting “tipsy for Gypsy.” Thousands of people are documenting themselves online, drinking in her honor. So, who is this Gypsy girl and why are we getting tipsy for her?
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was born in a small town in Louisiana in July of 1991. Since being a young child, Gypsy faced countless health issues and was constantly in and out of hospitals. Her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” claimed that Gypsy suffered from muscular dystrophy, as well as cancer (leukemia). Gypsy was in a wheelchair for the majority of her adolescent life, believing she was chronically ill.
Gypsy has shared in multiple interviews and through social media posts that her mother had developed Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. It is a mental disorder in which a caretaker, usually a mother, seeks sympathy and attention by causing or creating fake symptoms to make it appear that the child in their care is sick.
Dee Dee manipulated Gypsy into believing she was terribly sick, when in reality, Gypsy was a perfectly healthy child. All of the illnesses and medical diagnoses that Dee Dee claimed Gypsy had, were proven not to be true. Gypsy spent her entire childhood getting treated for her sicknesses that didn’t exist.
Years later when Gypsy realized she had the ability to walk, she wanted to be free. She attempted to run away, and unfortunately it didn’t work so she decided to find a rather permanent solution to stop her mother’s abuse. According to Gypsy, she met her then boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, online in 2012. The two began communicating through an online Christian dating website and formed a romantic relationship. Their relationship mainly took place online through text messages, video, and phone calls.. They met for the first time in March 2015 when Gypsy and her mother went to the movie theater. Gypsy conspired with Godejon to plan her mother’s murder so that Gypsy could finally be free.
The thirty-two-year-old was released almost a month ago from the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Chillicothe, Missouri on December 28th, 2023. In 2015, Blanchard was sentenced to ten years on account of second-degree murder after pleading guilty. Nicholas Godejon, the one who actually carried out the murder, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, after he was found guilty.
After being freed from prison, Gypsy has been quite busy. She recently saw “The Big Apple ” for the first time and traveled to New York City in order to promote her new lifetime show The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Gypsy also recently released her own ebook, Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom on January 9th. On her TikTok account, she has been posting “get ready with me” and “outfit of the day” videos while also sharing messages with her fans.
Since Gypsy’s release, TikTok fans have been celebrating her freedom by drinking and posting the hashtag #TipsyforGypsy. The hashtag has over two million views on the app. Gypsy herself has 8.3 million followers on Instagram and 9.9 million followers on TikTok. The social media star has been posting frequent updates about life after prison.
Last week, Gypsy posted a video on TikTok reiterating her purpose for being on social media. She shared with followers that “the whole point is to spread awareness about Munchausen by proxy.” She then informed viewers of the definition of the psychological disorder and symptoms to look for.
Gypsy wants to focus on spreading awareness about her mother’s disorder and ways to help victims. She wants to use her platform in a purposeful way and educate others even though she appears as a celebrity influencer on TikTok.
So, will you be getting #TipsyforGypsy?