Gypsy Rose Blanchard Sues True Crime Content Creator for Defamation and Fraud

Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her family are suing a producer and true crime content creator they used to work with, but now accuse of fraud, breach of contract, defamation, and more.

The defendant in the suit is April Johns, also known as Franchesca or Fancy, Macelli.  According to the suit (obtained by Rolling Stone and filed in Livingston County, Missouri court last month), Blanchard and her family struck a life rights deal with Macelli in 2017 while Gypsy was still in prison for her role in the murder of her abusive mother, Dee Dee. Macelli promised, per the suit, to “produce media projects on Gypsy’s behalf” through her production company, Mad Ginger Entertainment. 

For the next couple of years, the Blanchards say they provided Macelli with access and interviews, as well as an array of personal documents and evidence related to the case, including Blanchard’s private medical records, family photos, crime scene photos, police videos, and court transcripts. But after some time, in 2019, the Blanchards decided not to renew their contract with Macelli, citing her “failure to secure any media projects or produce any marketable content.” They also said she’d become “confrontational” over Blanchard’s relationship to then-fiancee Ken Urker (another prisoner whom Gypsy met through a pen pal program).

After this relationship ended, the Blanchards say Macelli “produced content sporadically about Gypsy” on her various social media accounts. Macelli often discussed her “falling out” with the Blanchard family and allegedly “became more focused on” the idea that Gypsy and her family were “hiding things.” Then, starting around October 2023 — not long after Blanchard was granted parole — the suit says Macelli’s content became “more pointed and caustic,” as well as frequent. (The suit notes that Macelli made money off this content, too, as some of her accounts were either monetized or subscription-based.)

The suit claims that Macelli proceeded to post some of the material the Blanchards had previously given her, such as Gypsy’s medical records, crime scene reports (including photos of Dee Dee’s body), as well as plaintiffs’ cell phone numbers. Macelli also allegedly made “repeated accusations” that the Blanchards were “stalking her and encouraging people to stalk and harass her” but offered “no evidence to back up the assertions.”

The suit includes a number of statements Macelli made about Blanchard and her family, as well as in the lead-up to and after Gypsy’s release from prison. In one, she said, “I’m so sick of Gypsy… Like I honestly want to bury her so far down a rabbit hole and I think if I dig enough I could make her look so fucking bad.”

In another, Macelli seemed to cast doubt on the assertion that Dee Dee appeared to suffer from Munchausen by proxy syndrome (Dee Dee had spent years making Blanchard believe she was disabled and chronically ill, even subjecting her to unnecessary surgeries and medication). Macelli claimed that Gypsy’s stepmother, Kristy Blanchard, “sold you fucking Munchausen by proxy,” adding, “It ain’t fucking medical child abuse. We’ve been had. Fuck it Bitch. Sue me.” 

This February, a lawyer for the Blanchards threatened to do just that, sending a letter to Macelli and telling her to “immediately stop creating content and saying false, defamatory, and harassing things” about the Blanchards, and “take down the offending material.” A few days later, Macelli posted a video on YouTube in which she called Gypsy a “dangerous frickin person” and a “deviant” and said if she looked close enough at the case evidence,  she’d be able to “bury that bitch.” 

The Blanchards’ suit brings five causes of action — fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, defamation, and false light. They’re seeking injunctive relief against Macelli to force her to stop, as well as unspecified damages. 

Macelli did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.