Gypsy Rose Blanchard Deletes Public Social Media Accounts: ‘That’s Not Real Life’

Gypsy Rose Blanchard shut down one social media account, explained her reasoning on another social media account, and then deleted that one, too, in an effort to maintain more privacy after her release from prison. 

Earlier this week, Blanchard raised some concerns after she deleted her public Instagram account. She then took to TikTok, according to Entertainment Tonight, where she discussed the decision in a series of lengthy videos. And it now appears that she’s axed that TikTok account, as well.

In one of the videos, Blanchard said the decision to take a step back came after getting some crucial “guidance” from her dad. “And that guidance was to show me that real life is something you can touch, something you can feel, people you can actually hug” she said. “And with the public scrutiny as bad as it is, I just don’t want to live my life under a microscope.” 

Blanchard then admitted she’s not entirely off social media, saying she set up a private Instagram account and even verified it. But she had “no trouble or doubts” about deleting the public one. While Blanchard said some were shocked she would do away with an account with so many followers (as many as 7.8 million), she curtly replied: “I could give a F about a following. Like, that’s not real life.” 

Blanchard also spoke about how her perception of social media has changed so drastically in the months since she left prison: “I do my best to live my authentic life and what’s real to me, and what’s not real is social media. Social media is literally a doorway to hell. It’s so crazy. I can’t even wrap my head around what social media is. I thought that once I got out of prison, I’d come out, and I’d enjoy social media like the next person, taking selfies and just acting goofy. It’s the simple stuff in life, right?”

Blanchard spent seven years incarcerated for her role in the murder of her abusive mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 2016. Her conviction, however, was underpinned by extremely unsettling circumstances: It emerged that Dee Dee — who appeared to suffer from Munchhausen by proxy — spent years making Blanchard believe she was disabled and chronically ill, even subjecting her to unnecessary surgeries and medication. Dee Dee further convinced others that Blanchard was afflicted with a variety of illnesses while collecting donations from various charities like the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Since her release from prison, Blanchard has hardly left the public eye. On top of the copious amounts of attention she’s received online, she appeared in a Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and sat for an interview on 20/20 (where, at the time, she said she didn’t mind being a viral sensation).