‘Gossip Girl’ Alum Chanel Maya Banks Breaks Silence After Family Reported Her Missing
Gossip Girl and Blue Bloods actress Chanel Maya Banks has come forward following her family’s report that she was missing.
“I am Chanel Banks, a 36-year-old American who’s been enduring silent suffering my entire life,” Banks, 36, disclosed to True Crime News on Wednesday, November 13. “From ritualistic abuse to manipulation and ceaseless torment, my own family—now so concerned for my whereabouts—has been my oppressor since infancy. I met with police, confirmed my safety, and for the first time, I am truly free.”
She continued, “They say when you’re free in Christ, you’re truly free. Six days ago, I told my husband I was off to be baptized by one of my favorite pastors, Robert Clancy. He drove me to the airport, and I took the week to seize my freedom—to finally escape my cage.”
Banks has resolved to seek justice as well.
“This is a call to those in power with a conscience to stand with me,” she urged. “Help me, help this cause. I will never again be silenced, least of all by those who have tormented me for 36 crushing years.”
Earlier this month, Banks’ mother and cousin reported her missing after a welfare check found her absent from her Los Angeles home.
“Five days without contact is a huge red flag,” Banks’ cousin, Danielle-Tori Singh, told Eyewitness News on November 13. “She’s never out of touch with me or her mom for more than 48 hours. She’s like a big sister to me.”
L.A. authorities confirmed Banks was found safe soon afterward.
“She is fine, in no danger,” LAPD spokesperson Charles Miller told People. “She’s been removed from the missing persons list, and our investigation is closed.”
Singh had recently started a GoFundMe, claiming the family’s last contact with Banks was October 30.
“She would NEVER go anywhere without telling us,” Singh asserted. “On November 10, her husband had a split lip, scratches on his neck and arms, which weren’t there during the previous welfare check two days prior.”
Banks countered in her statement to True Crime News, claiming she hasn’t communicated with her family in almost 15 years.
“For decades, my family has been my spiritual, physical, and emotional warden,” she said. “They allowed me no autonomy and controlled every decision. Whenever I tried to leave, they’d forge official documents, casting me as mentally unwell—though I have no record, aside from a few parking tickets. This way, they weaponized law enforcement to hunt me down mercilessly.”
Banks further alleged that her family “stalked” her over the years and sought to place her under a conservatorship.
“For years, without my consent, they reached out to colleagues, friends, even neighbors, sabotaging my career and eroding any joy or peace I held onto,” she said. “They took turns isolating me, gaslighting me, lying to everyone who could have helped, convincing them I was unstable. It was their life’s mission to break me. But now, no more lies. The truth will come to light.”
Banks married a man identified on her TikTok page as “CJ” in November 2023. Singh claims the actress’s husband conveyed that “she doesn’t want to be found” and “will reach out when ready.”
Though quiet on social media recently, Banks posted on September 12, stating she was entering her “who cares what they say” era.
“With Rosh Hashanah approaching, I’ve been contemplating pure individuality,” she wrote on TikTok. “Many lack the courage to be their authentic selves in a world where everyone copies everyone else. But not me. I relish defying the zeitgeist and simply being myself.”
She added, “I’m in my ‘Who cares what they say’ era, my ‘Because I can’ era. Ultimately, we revere the originals—the ones who write their own stories.”
