Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Memoir Reveals Chilling Details About Mother Dee Dee

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's new memoir reveals some haunting new details about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, Dee Dee. Blanchard was released from prison on Dec. 28, 2023, after being convicted for the murder of her mother, and she got to work sharing her story in a new eBook called Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedom. Some of the biggest quotes from the book are already becoming the trending topics of the day.

Blanchard was convicted of second-degree murder in consideration of her argument that her mother was abusing her, keeping her drugged and giving her no reasonable options to escape or call for help. She was raised to believe she had a multitude of chronic illnesses and disabilities, which was not true. Instead, experts say Dee Dee likely had a "factitious disorder imposed on another," a mental disorder similar to Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP) in which a caretaker lies about or even induces an illness in their charge to obtain sympathy or attention. In her new book, Blanchard describes how she was kept heavily medicated, isolated from others as much as possible and forced to remain in a wheelchair even when she had full mobility.

There were more shocking allegations of abuse in the book that have never been heard before – notably, Blanchard claims that her mother once beat her with a "dog leash" and then tied her to her bed with it. She said that she was left there for two weeks as a punishment for some perceived sleight. Blanchard also speculated that her mother's mental illnesses did not end with FDIA or MSP. She believes that her mother suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She wrote that her mother would sometimes "hear voices" and see "shapes and shadows" where others couldn't. She said that these hallucinations gave her mother the delusion that she was a "powerful witch" who could use "spells."

Blanchard also described the extent to which she was kept under constant observation by her mother. She wrote that her mother didn't even want to let her out of her sight to bathe, forcing her to bathe together. Dee Dee even allegedly shaved all of Blanchard's body hair in order to make her "clean." Blanchard wrote: "I never this is not normal," but she understands now that she is free.

Meanwhile, Blanchard wrote about how her mother made her an accomplice in shoplifting at times. She explained: "Sitting in a wheelchair helps to more easily knock things into your lap and shove them under your princess dress. My mother taught me the barcode swap: remove the barcode sticker from a cheaper item and place it on the more expensive one; then use the self-checkout lane." She added that they didn't need many of the things they stole and didn't sell them either. Instead, she wrote that her mother was a "hoarder."

Blanchard's eBook is available now, and it's not the end of her story. She apparently has plans to release another book and hopes to work on another documentary as well. She wrote: "As much as I have resisted the public role, it keeps finding me, in bigger, more transcendent ways. I know that doing two books, a Lifetime docuseries, and a follow-up series will look nothing like the private life I wish I had."