Influencer Gypsy Rose could make millions after mom murder
She’s finally free — and entering her influencer era.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard went from serving a 10-year sentence for the second-degree murder of her abusive mother to serving fans a look at life after lockup. She’s amassed more than 10 million followers on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, days after her Dec. 28 prison release.
Now, the 32-year-old — who became a star thanks to the 2017 HBO documentary “Mommy Dead and Dearest” — is aiming to reinvent herself on social media, telling People she wants to “create change” with her platform.
She has the book “Release: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom” out Jan. 9, and a three-part Lifetime special, “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard,” premiering Friday.
And experts say she could earn up to $100,000 per social media post through endorsement deals, brand partnerships and speaking engagements.
“With a community that engaged — wanting to listen to the podcasts, wanting to buy the book — Blanchard could be making millions this year,” Olivia Rudensky, CEO of the digital marketing firm Fanmade, told The Post.
“She has such a unique built-in audience that wants to hear more and wants more answers, which obviously turns into money,” said Rudensky, whose company has worked with celebrities including Miley Cyrus and Hailey Bieber.
“The Internet loves buying meme merch. People are watching her every move … There’s so many different content deals at play.”
The hashtag #GypsyRoseBlanchard has 2 billion views on TikTok, and fans flooded Blanchard’s Instagram account upon her release from a Missouri prison last Friday, when she shared a smiling selfie in a hotel room with the caption: “First selfie of Freedom!”
“You served. Now it’s time to to slay,” one fan commented.
Others applauded Blanchard’s commitment to mental health. “You look gorgeous girl! I hope you take the necessary time to adjust. Treat yourself with kindness and know that tons of people wish you well in this new chapter,” one commenter wrote.
By Friday she had shared a photo locking lips with new husband, Ryan Anderson, whom she met while behind bars when he wrote her a letter in 2020, promoting her new Lifetime series with the hashtag #ThePrisonConfessionsofGypsyRoseBlanchard.
She gained 1.2 million followers on TikTok by Saturday, with a bio describing her as a “public figure/speaker, author, advocating awareness of Munchausen by Proxy.”
Munchausen by proxy syndrome is a psychological disorder in which parents exaggerate or make up an illness of their children for attention and sympathy.
Blanchard was subjected to years of child abuse — confined to a wheelchair and forced to use a feeding tube despite being healthy — at the hands of her mother, Claudine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.
As a girl and young woman, Blanchard was led to believe she had muscular dystrophy and leukemia among other illnesses, and presented by her mother as having brain damage due to having been born prematurely.
“People are searching for explainers on Tiktok and being fed the algorithm with all the areas of it,” Claudia Villarreal, head of creative and co-founder of Fanmade, told The Post.
“You can get caught up kind of quickly. It’s rare you have so much back story. Everyone wants to talk about it.
“There’s a huge difference between a social media influencer saying ‘buy this product’ and Gypsy — she doesn’t need to be selling anything to have her audience care about her. Being herself is going to be the sell.”
On Sunday, Blanchard shared an avatar of herself in a crop top with her new Snapchat handle. A photo of her wedding band on Instagram commanded more than 11,000 comments — including “yes diva” from singer (and Miley’s sister) Noah Cyrus, along with an offer from a New York City-based designer to make her a wedding dress.
“The true crime community seldom have a lot they can rejoice to. This is intriguing,” Villarreal said.
She added that there’s a niche market for dark parenting survival stories, noting former Nickelodeon star Jeanette McCurdy’s memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died.”
“McCurdy] built a platform talking about the difficulties living with her mom, surviving, doing the book deal in the same kind of way,” she said.
Arleigh Banner, CEO of lifestyle marketing and partnerships agency Collab, told The Post that Blanchard will have to work to craft her image beyond her crime to keep followers engaged.
“Crafting her brand image beyond the shock factor of her story is crucial. The key is to keep her new followers engaged and curious about her daily activities, opinions, product recommendations, fostering a deeper connection,” Banner said.
Some people have bashed Blanchard’s newfound influencer status — criticizing her for trying to monetize her crime — with one commenter spewing: “Someone is dead and someone else is in jail for life … no one should be celebrating this situation.”
But Blanchard’s story, ultimately, will sell itself, said Monique Lewis, who specializes in crisis response public relations: “It’s sensationalism. Bad news is going to attract far more people than good news.”
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