The latest episode of The Kardashians saw Kim meet Gypsy Rose in her hotel room just three weeks after her release, to talk about her case, time behind bars and — Kim’s specially — social media.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard was keeping up with The Kardashians behind bars.
On the latest episode of the family’s Hulu reality show, Kim Kardashian flew to New Orleans to meet up with Gypsy Rose, just three weeks after she was released from prison after serving time for her role in her mom Dee Dee’s murder.
The sit-down was kept a secret for months, with nobody knowing it happened until it was teased in the first promo for the new season of Kim’s show. The two connected thanks to, what else, social media — after Kim posted about watching the 2017 doc Mommy Dead and Dearest — with Kardashian hoping to speak with Blanchard about one of her passions, prison reform. She also thought Gypsy Rose could be “impactful with youth and abuse,” and felt she could “guide her on exactly where to go and how she can help.”
She also acknowledged that it can be “a controversial subject” for her to help someone “involved in something so violent,” before adding, “but I do believe people should have second chances in life and I take her entire background into consideration.”
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After hugging each other in Blanchard’s hotel room, Gypsy immediately complimented Kim’s coat, before Kardashian wondered what the recent parolee had for her first post-release meal. According to Gypsy, it was steak — and was her first time ever having it. “It was actually pretty good,” she added.
Kim then explained she had been following Blanchard’s story for a long time, in an attempt to assure Gypsy she wasn’t just jumping onto the “sensation of the case” now that she’s back in the spotlight. “I recognize you can make a big difference because you can articulate what you went through and how you can get through it,” she added, before Gypsy thanked her for taking the time to meet her.
“I give you massive kudos right now. I think a lot of people are afraid of touching me as a topic because I’m ‘too controversial,'” said Blanchard. “I give you massive props for being like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna come do this right now.'”
“I’m blessed to be given a second chance. Because when I was going through what I was going through, nobody talked about Munchausen by proxy,” Gypsy continued, talking about her own situation with her late mother. “Nobody was ever a guiding light for me. I look back on things I could have done differently.”
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When Kim wondered whether Gypsy ever told her father about what she was going through, Blanchard said she didn’t even have his phone number — accusing her mother of putting “a block on our relationship.” She also said her mother pretended to be her while speaking to her dad from a fake Facebook account.
“Looking back, I could have done things a lot differently and it would have ended with my mother being in prison,” said Blanchard, who believes her mom should be behind bars and not six feet under.
When asked by Kardashian whether she missed her mom, Gypsy admitted it’s a “complicated” question. She explained she would honor her mom while in prison by listening to her favorite songs — from Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty — on repeat, while allowing herself “time to cry and grieve.” Blanchard recalled feeling “so vulnerable” whenever she’d cry, because “catty” women in prison with her would respond by saying, “You killed her, why are you crying about it?”
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After, Kim noted that she believes Gypsy’s story could “make such an impact on young people that might not know how to get out” of horrific situations and be an example how of how to move forward.
“I paid my dues to the state, now let’s see what I can do with my new life and my second chance,” said Gypsy, who noted she was doing her best to make her family proud after her release.
“I know I did something wrong, I paid my consequences, but I feel like half of everybody is trying to condemn me and the other half is rooting for me,” she shared. “I post a selfie and them I’m expected to have a greater message behind it, and I’m like, ‘I’m just having fun.”
Having fun with social media is, of course, another one of Kim’s specialties. She gave Gypsy some advice about Instagram, telling her that “sometimes you have to post and ghost and not pay attention to all the comments and what’s being said.” She added that not every post needs to have a “deep message” attached to it, adding that “the way you live your life moving forward is the deep message.”
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As for what Gypsy hopes to focus on after her release, it’s making sure those in prison are given all the tools possible to succeed — including therapy.
“This is what upsets me so much. You know everything I’ve been through. When I got to prison, I asked them if I could get therapy and really deal with the trauma I went through. I received a notice I didn’t quality for 1-on-1 therapy,” she shared.
Kim was surprised, wondering in a confessional how people can get out of jail “rehabilitated” without “giving them the tools and therapy before they get home.”
For Gypsy, that re-entry period of getting back into the real world has been “a whirlwind,” she said. She went on to claim that she and her then-husband Ryan Anderson were getting pressured to add her name to the lease of the home they were renting — a problem for her since she knows she wouldn’t pass a background check. “The system is just built [for us] to fail,” she said, before asking Kim for advice on how to even begin her crusade to help others.
“I can totally help you with that,” she shared, promising to connect Gypsy with all the right people going forward.
“I think she’s a perfect person to talk to a younger generation. Hopefully with her help we can bring therapy into more prisons,” she added in a confessional. “I hope Gypsy follows her heart, I hope she heals first and foremost and follows her path of helping other people.”
New episodes of The Kardashians air Thursdays on Hulu.
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