Gypsy-Rose Blanchard is speaking out following the death of her partner Ken Urker and urging fans to support Kenan’s Law, a petition aimed at holding social media platforms accountable for how online harassment is handled.
While a cause of death has not yet been released, Blanchard wrote that before Urker passed, the two repeatedly reported harassment and cyberbullying he received across platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit. She wrote that they believed such content “crossed the line from criticism.”
“Ken was a public figure and experienced an enormous amount of public scrutiny,” she wrote. “Ken made reports. I made reports. Videos were reported. Comments were reported. Posts were reported. And many times, the answer we received was: ‘No violation.’ That is the problem I want to change.”
Blanchard continued: “Being a public figure does not mean you stop being human. Public figures read the comments. They see the videos. They have children. They have parents. They have families. They experience the consequences of what happens online. Fame does not erase humanity.”
Urker, who also fathered a baby girl, Aurora, with Blanchard, was found dead Thursday in Raceland, Louisiana. He was 34. Captain Brennan Matherne of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Department said in a statement to Variety, “We responded to a residence at 107 Double H Drive, Lot 4, in Raceland today after receiving a call at 6:15 p.m. Kenan Urker, 34, was found dead upon arrival. At this time, we are continuing the death investigation.”
“Ken recently died following a suspected overdose,” Blanchard wrote in the petition. “At this time, we do not know whether the overdose was intentional, and I will not speculate about circumstances that have not been determined.”
Urker appeared on the reality series “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup,” which ran for two seasons on Lifetime.