Gypsy Rose Blanchard has thanked fans for their support following the death of her on-again, off-again fiancé Ken Urker, who was found dead at his Louisiana home last Thursday, on his 34th birthday.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has reached out with love, prayers and condolences,” Blanchard wrote on Instagram Stories Monday morning. The 35-year-old “Life After Lockup” star said she could not respond to every message but added, “Please know I see them, and I’m so grateful.” She closed her statement by asking followers to “please sign and share my petition.”
That petition, which Blanchard posted over the weekend, calls for what she has dubbed “Kenan’s Law,” aimed at changing “the way social-media platforms handle repeated reports of harassment.” She says Urker faced an “overwhelming amount of online scrutiny” that “crossed the line into targeted harassment and cyberbullying.”
“Public figures are still human beings, and fame should never erase someone’s humanity,” Blanchard wrote. “I cannot change what happened, but I can advocate for a better system for the next person who feels like no one is listening.”
Cause of death unconfirmed
Urker was found with drug paraphernalia and a gun in his Louisiana home. Blanchard has said he died of an overdose, but authorities have not officially confirmed a cause of death.
The two were not together at the time of his death. A source told Page Six the couple had quietly split roughly a month earlier after living apart for about two months. “They officially broke up about a month ago, but then they were living apart for about two months,” the source said, adding that after “trying to work it out for a bit,” the pair “both just amicably” agreed to “leave it here, have our space, and see where we’re at.”
The source described the split as free of conflict: “It was just a mutual agreement. They were co-parenting. … They were in touch every few days checking in on Aurora.”
A relationship that began behind bars
Blanchard and Urker’s relationship dates back to 2017, while Blanchard was incarcerated for second-degree murder in connection with the 2015 death of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. The pair got engaged in 2018, broke up the following year, then reconciled in 2024 after Blanchard’s brief marriage to and divorce from Ryan Scott Anderson. They welcomed a daughter, Aurora, now 1, in December of that year.
In an earlier tribute following Urker’s death, Blanchard called him “an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved,” writing that he would “forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance and even death can never erase.” She also shared previously unseen photos of Urker on Instagram, writing, “You will always be my greatest love story. You will be remembered and loved forever.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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