Gypsy Rose Blanchard considers the case of the Menendez brothers.
Blanchard, 33, spoke with TMZ at LAX on Sunday and shared her advice for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who may finally be out of prison nearly 30 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents.
“It’s very difficult to come out in a world that has changed so much, even in the time I’ve spent,” says Blanchard, who served seven years in prison for the murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.
“Reacclimatization is difficult,” she added. “I would say take your time, you know, adapt well and get therapy because you need that in this kind of world [and] day and age.”
In 2016, Blanchard pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, although she was released in early December 2023.
Her ex-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, stabbed her mother to death in her home in Springfield, Missouri, in 2015. Dee Dee had Munchausen by proxy syndrome and subjected Blanchard to years of child abuse.
After getting out of prison, Blanchard was thrust into the spotlight when her documentaries “The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard” and “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up” both aired on Lifetime.
In July she announced that she was pregnant with her first child with boyfriend Ken Urker. The couple rekindled their romance after Blanchard split from husband Ryan Anderson three months after getting out of prison.
The Menendez brothers, meanwhile, murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 and were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996.
They argued in their trial that they had been sexually abused by their parents and killed them in self-defense – but the jury still found them guilty.
Following the success of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix show “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced that new evidence of sexual abuse is judged against the siblings. A hearing is scheduled for the end of November, which could lead to the brothers being retried or even released from prison.
Blanchard told TMZ that while she is “not really aware of this case,” she supports the Menendez brothers in getting out of prison.
“I am an advocate for victims of abuse in general and I am all for prison reform,” the mother said. “If the matter is reviewed, hopefully something can be done.
“Victims of abuse need to be advocated for more,” Blanchard added.
The TMZ reporter also told Blanchard that Kim Kardashian is advocating for Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, to be released.
“Kim is a wise woman. She makes good decisions in her era of prison reform,” Blanchard said of the 43-year-old reality star.
Kardashian, who visited Erik and Lyle in prison, wrote an essay for NBC News on Oct. 3 and said she hopes the brothers’ “life sentences will be reconsidered.”
“I do not believe that spending their entire natural lives in prison was the appropriate punishment for this complex case. If this crime had been committed and tried today, I believe the outcome would have been dramatically different,” she wrote.
Blanchard also appeared on season 5 of “The Kardashians” to discuss the prison system.
