'The Act' Star Joey King Reacts to Gypsy Rose Blanchard Being Released From Prison
Joey King is wishing Gypsy Rose Blanchard well. The actress, who played Gypsy in Hulu's The Act, was recently approached by photographers and asked for her take on the 32-year-old's recent release from prison.
"I'm so happy that she's released," Joey reluctantly answered, dodging questions about whether she has spoken to Gypsy or has any plans to in the future.
"I'm so happy for her," the 24-year-old star continued. "She deserves freedom."
Gypsy was released from prison last month after serving 85 percent of her 10-year prison sentence for concocting a plan with her then-boyfriend, Nicholas "Nick" Godejohn, to kill her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, in 2015. The murder came after Dee Dee is believed to have inflicted years of abuse on Gypsy due to Munchausen by proxy, a rare disorder in which a guardian exaggerates or induces illness in a child for attention and sympathy. Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016.
The true crime story was recounted in a 2017 HBO documentary, Mommy Dead and Dearest, and the 2019 scripted mini-series, The Act, in which Joey co-starred with Patricia Arquette. For her supporting role, Arquette won both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Joey was nominated in the lead actress category at both 2020 ceremonies.
Patricia Arquette and Joey King attend the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 19, 2020.
In an interview with ET last week, Gypsy shared that she has not watched The Act and does not have any plans to check it out.
"I lived it," she explained. "For me, looking for things that weren't correct or that were inaccurate, that's neither here nor there."
Gypsy is telling her story in the Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, which premiered on Jan. 5.
"I'm not trying to Hollywood it up," she told ET of the project. "I'm just trying to share my story in the truest of lights."
The six-part doc features interviews with Gypsy conducted over 18 months while she was in prison. The interviews cover the events leading up to her mother's murder, her time in prison, and the unexpected turns her life has taken since her release on Dec. 28.
"My purpose for doing this documentary is really just to shed light on mental health awareness," Gypsy told ET. "I want to share with others what I've been through because if somebody out there is watching this, they can see me and know that they're not alone. Because when I was living with my mother, I felt very alone. I always say that if I had someone to tell me, 'Hey, it's safe to talk to someone and tell them that you're struggling. Tell them that your home situation is bad. Tell them you're being abused,' I wouldn't have committed my crime. So that's why it's important for me to share my story."
Since her release, Gypsy has reunited with her husband, Ryan Anderson, whom she wed in a 2022 prison ceremony, as well as her dad and stepmom. She's also become something of an internet darling, amassing more than 13 million followers on social media.
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