Gypsy Rose Blanchard has spoken out against accusations linking her to the death of her former fiancé Ken Urker.
Blanchard, 35, addressed the backlash in a new interview with 60 Minutes Australia, days after Urker was found dead at a Louisiana home on October 1. Officers arrived to find the 30-year-old unresponsive, and he was pronounced dead upon their arrival. Blanchard was across town when the tragedy occurred, yet online commenters quickly flooded her social media with claims that she was involved.
“Disgusting to hear, because that was the love of my life,” Blanchard told the program. “That’s the father of my child. I’ve known Ken for almost nine years. No other man, no other person had my heart like he did,” she continued.
The mother of one also flatly denied any role in Urker’s death when pressed by the interviewer. “Absolutely not,” she stated.
Blanchard revealed that the couple’s relationship had been under significant strain before Urker’s passing, and that he had recently moved out of their shared home. She traced the pressure back to the intense public scrutiny that followed her release from prison, noting that initial celebration of her freedom gradually curdled into sustained criticism.
“When I first came out of prison, everyone, society seemed to be so excited for me and my new found freedom,” she explained to the host. “And then overtime, more criticism came my way.”
Blanchard said the online hostility penetrated their domestic life despite surface-level happiness. “It was like things were fine in the home, we were happy. But online, there was so much negativity,” she described.
The targeted harassment took a particular toll on Urker himself, Blanchard emphasized. She told 60 Minutes Australia that commenters had been branding him a “child predator” since the start of their relationship in 2017, a characterization that deeply affected him.
Following Urker’s death, Blanchard launched a petition for legislation she has dubbed “Kenan’s Law,” aimed at reforming how social media platforms handle repeated harassment reports. In a statement released to PEOPLE, she asserted that Urker “endured an unimaginable level of public scrutiny and relentless cyberbullying across social media platforms.” The pair had rekindled their romance in 2024 after previous engagements and separations.
Blanchard took to Instagram to rally support for the petition, writing: “I only have my daughter and my voice. In honor of Ken, I am asking for your support for Kenan’s Law.”
She elaborated on the proposal’s scope in the same post, stating: “Kenan’s Law is about changing the way social-media platforms handle repeated reports of harassment. One post viewed alone may not tell the whole story—but hundreds of posts, videos and comments directed at one person can reveal a pattern that deserves meaningful review.”
Blanchard added a clarification about the bill’s intent: “This is not about silencing criticism or taking away anyone’s freedom of speech. Public figures can and should be criticized. But public figures are still human beings, and fame should never erase someone’s humanity.”
Blanchard served more than eight years in prison for her role in the 2015 murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who had subjected her to years of fabricated illnesses and medical child abuse. She was granted parole in December 2023 and has since become a prominent social media figure, documenting her post-prison life and relationships. Urker had first connected with her as a pen pal during her incarceration, and their on-again, off-again relationship spanned nearly a decade.
Blanchard’s 60 Minutes Australia interview marks her most extensive public response to Urker’s death since the initial announcement.