Gypsy-Rose Blanchard has publicly apologized for using the N-word multiple times in resurfaced prison calls.
“I want to directly address some of the old prison phone calls that have recently been shared online,” Blanchard, 35, began in a statement posted on her since-deleted TikTok account on Friday, August 21. “In those conversations, I used racist language and made cruel, disrespectful comments, including about people I love, my sister Mia and her fiancé André.”
She added, “What I said was wrong. The words were racist and I take full responsibility for saying them. There is no excuse for that language or the pain it’s caused.”
Blanchard spoke out after multiple phone calls were shared on social media in recent days. The calls were recorded after she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the 2015 death of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.
Viral clips were excerpted from longer conversations Gypsy-Rose had with her ex-husband, Ryan Anderson, and family members. In one call, she made light of her sister Mia’s history of dating Black men. (Mia’s fiancé, André, is Black.)
Gypsy-Rose flippantly used the N-word to refer to her fellow inmates in another call — and even repeated the slur to make sure the other caller heard her clearly.
“To the Black community, I’m sorry for using words that are hateful and demeaning,” Gypsy-Rose wrote in her public apology on Friday. “To Mia and André, I’m especially sorry. You didn’t deserve that then and you don’t deserve the hurt now.”
The Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up star stressed that she “apologized privately” to Mia and André in the past but felt it was important to publicly take ownership of her words.
“I understand forgiveness and reconciliation is not something I am owed,” she acknowledged. “I respect whatever boundaries you need and accept that healing happens on your timeline, not mine.”
Gypsy-Rose also felt it was important to clarify that she has changed as a person since being released from the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, in December 2023.
“Those words and attitudes don’t reflect who I am or what I believe now. I reject them completely,” she wrote. “I know saying that isn’t enough and that my actions over time have to demonstrate change. I can’t go back and undo what I said. What I can do is acknowledge it fully, learn from it, and continue choosing to be better every single day.”
As Gypsy-Rose concluded her public apology, she accepted that her actions in the future are the only way to prove she has truly changed.
“I wanted to make this statement, not because these calls became public, but because I never should have spoken those words in the first place,” she wrote. “To everyone I hurt, especially Mia and André, I am truly sorry.”
Gypsy-Rose later deleted her TikTok in the wake of the controversy.
This isn’t the first time Gypsy-Rose has publicly apologized for offensive comments. In March, she joined social media star Natalie Reynolds to film the “We Listen We Don’t Judge” TikTok challenge.
While Reynolds, 23, admitted to offering a homeless woman who couldn’t swim $20 to jump in a lake, she was shocked by Gypsy-Rose’s answer.
“I went to prison for eight and a half years because I ‘X’ my own mom,” Blanchard declared, making an “X” motion with her arms.
“Oh my God,” a shocked Reynolds reacted.
As the video went viral, Gypsy-Rose told TMZ, “The whole idea behind it is, yes, we understand that we’re not perfect, we are influencers, and we have gone through some difficult things, but we are focusing on positivity. That was the entire point of the video — is accountability and growth.”
Asked if she could understand why people were offended, Gypsy-Rose admitted, “I can. I can. Especially with me, particularly — I understand that my audience has always followed my journey because they like to see me grow.”
“So usually I think I can bank on my audience receiving things very well but I’m not the type of person to be very in your face about my past,” she clarified. “So, this is the first time that I tried something different in a head-on approach and I just don’t — unfortunately it wasn’t received like we wanted.”
