Gypsy-Rose Blanchard has launched an anti-cyberbullying petition after the death of her former fiancé, Ken Urker, urging lawmakers to improve the way social-media platforms respond to repeated harassment reports.
Blanchard, 35, is calling the proposed legislation “Kenan’s Law” in memory of Urker, who was 34 and the father of their daughter, Aurora.
“I only have my daughter and my voice,” Blanchard wrote on Instagram alongside a photograph of Urker and Aurora, encouraging supporters to sign the petition.
She said Urker had faced intense public scrutiny which, in her view, had crossed into harassment and cyberbullying. Blanchard said repeated reports to social-media platforms had resulted in responses stating that no violation had been found.
“Kenan’s Law is about changing the way social-media platforms handle repeated reports of harassment,” she wrote. “One post viewed alone may not tell the whole story—but hundreds of posts, videos and comments directed at one person can reveal a pattern that deserves meaningful review.”
Blanchard stressed that the proposal was not intended to prevent criticism or restrict freedom of speech.
“Public figures can and should be criticized,” she wrote. “But public figures are still human beings, and fame should never erase someone’s humanity.”
She added: “Ken’s passing has made me determined to turn pain into purpose. I cannot change what happened, but I can advocate for a better system for the next person who feels like no one is listening.”
By Sunday morning, the petition had attracted more than 2,000 signatures. Its description calls for stronger procedures governing how major social-media platforms deal with serious and repeated reports of online harassment.
“There are people experiencing sustained online targeting right now who may be reporting individual videos, comments and accounts without anyone ever examining what all of those reports look like together,” Blanchard wrote.
Ken Urker death
Urker was found dead at his home in Louisiana on Thursday, with drug paraphernalia and a holstered handgun nearby. The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called at about 6.15pm and found him dead on arrival.
Deputies reportedly found a syringe, two shot glasses and a handgun on the bedside table, along with syringes, a spoon and a brown powdery substance in the bathroom.
Blanchard said Urker “wasn’t in a good state of mind lately” and “had been drinking a lot to cope”. An autopsy has been completed, but the results remain pending.
She said Urker had been “an amazing father and a man who was deeply loved”.
“He will forever be my soulmate and my red string, a connection that time, distance, and even death can never erase,” she said.
Blanchard added that Aurora was “a beautiful reflection of his enduring spirit” and promised to ensure that the child knew how deeply her father had loved her.
Blanchard and Urker first connected as pen pals while she was in prison and became engaged in October 2018. They ended their engagement the following year, later briefly reunited and continued an on-and-off relationship.
Blanchard later married Ryan Scott Anderson in a prison ceremony, but they separated in March 2024 and their divorce was finalised nine months later. She reunited with Urker, and they welcomed Aurora in December 2024.
Urker’s sister, Autumn, said in a TikTok video that the pair were not together when he died.
