Gypsy Rose Blanchard spoke out against the public discourse about the death of her ex-fiancé Ken Urker.
“Your gossip could be the darkest time in someone’s life,” read an inspirational quote shared via Blanchard’s Instagram page on Thursday, October 8. “Be kind.”
Blanchard, 35, also included the hashtag “Kenan’s Law,” which is an initiative to help combat online harassment and cyberbullying. (Urker’s full first name was Kenan.)
Earlier this month, Us confirmed that Urker was found unresponsive in a Raceland, Louisiana, home on October 1, which was also his 34th birthday. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office told Us that they “responded to a residence” after “receiving a call at 6:15 p.m.” Urker “was found dead upon arrival” of the authorities.
A cause of death has yet to be determined amid the investigation.
Us later reported that after Gypsy Rose’s sister-in-law Anita Blanchard had called 911 for a wellness check on Urker. According to a police report obtained by Us, Anita claimed that Urker had been in “a dark place” and didn’t attend work that day.
Gypsy Rose and Urker first connected as pen pals while she was behind bars for seven years for her role in the 2015 murder of her mom, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. Urker reached out to Gypsy Rose after learning about her story via the 2017 documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest. He later visited her in prison, and they shared their first kiss. Urker proposed to Gypsy Rose in October 2018.
Urker and Gypsy Rose ultimately split in 2019. She moved on with Ryan Anderson, whom she wed in a prison ceremony in July 2022. Gypsy Rose and Anderson split in 2024, and she reconnected with Urker and reconciled their romance. The pair welcomed daughter Aurora in December 2024.
One day after the news of Urker’s death, Gypsy Rose broke her silence in a touching tribute to the father of her child.
“Ken was an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved,” she wrote via Instagram on October 2. “He will forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance, and even death can never erase.”
Gypsy Rose continued, “Above all, Ken loved our daughter, Aurora. She is a beautiful reflection of his enduring spirit, and through her, a part of him will always remain with us. I will make sure she grows up knowing how deeply her father loved her and who he was beyond what strangers on the internet chose to say about him. He will be deeply missed, forever loved and never forgotten.”
