Inside the Family Rift of 'Missing' Actress From 'Gossip Girl' — As She Slams Relatives For 'Abuse, Manipulation and Endless Torment'
Chanel Banks is safe and well after her family sparked a frantic search to find her.
Nov. 14 2024, Published 8:22 a.m. ET
Gossip Girl actress Chanel Banks has unleashed a blistering attack on her family after declaring: "I'm not missing".
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actress, 36 sparked panic by "vanishing" from his Los Angeles apartment and had not been seen or heard from in two weeks.
Banks' leff her LA apartment and her dog, fuelling concern from family members.
Her Toronto-based cousin Danielle-Tori Singh kickstarted a frantic search mission and Banks' mom flew in from New York to assist the bid to find her, while the pair also set up a GoFundMe page.
They claimed she abandoned her beloved dog, taking just a phone and laptop from the property.
Banks' husband was also accused of failing to assist with the search and tearing down missing person posters.
But Banks has now broken her silence to confirm she is safe and insists she was not missing, before hitting out at her relatives in an astonishing rant.
Banks claims she is not close to family, despite their claims during search she speaks to them regularly.
She wrote on Instagram: "My name is Chanel Banks I'm a 36-year-old American nobody.
"I have met with the police and verified that not only am I OK, but I'm finally free."
She added: "They say, once you're free in Christ Jesus, you're free indeed, so I told my husband six days ago I was going to get baptised by one of my favourite pastors, Pastor Robert Clancy.
"He drove me to the airport and then I was off for a week … but I also saw it as an opportunity to escape my cage."
A GoFundMe Page was set up to aid search.
Further hitting out at her family, she added: "I will never allow myself to be silenced ever again."
Her cousin claimed she never went "five days" without hearing from Banks during her search appeal and said the actress, who also appeared in Blue Bloods, "was like a big sister to me".
But according to Banks, who starred in three episodes of Gossip Girl, where she played Sawyer Bennett, the pair are not close and she slammed her family for lying to the press about communication.
She also claims abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfather.
Banks recently got married to husband who 'refused to aid search'.
Banks continued: "For my entire life I have been silently carrying the pain of the ritual sexual abuse, manipulation, and outright endless torment I've endured continuously since I was a defenseless baby, at the hands of my own so-called family, whom are all so very 'concerned' about my current whereabouts.
"I have met with the Police and verified that not only am I okay, but I'm finally free from my mother and her family."
Banks accused parents of abuse.
She added: "Now I want not just freedom for me, but freedom for everyone suffering in silence.
"I want to come out so that people like me won't be ashamed anymore. I want Justice. I'm asking God to help me get justice.
"I'm releasing a clarion call to those in high places who still have a soul and want to keep it in such a time as this. Reach out. Help me.
"I will never allow myself to be silenced ever again, least of all by my abusers."
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
On her cousin, Banks said: "Despite (my cousin and my mother's lies in the press) I have not spoken to Danielle in over 15 years, much less every day or 48hrs as they've perjured.
"For decades my family has been my spiritual, physical, and emotional warden, giving me zero authority of my personage. I was not allowed to make any decisions in life in anyway without their approval.
"Every instance I'd get close to leaving they'd falsefy official government documents relaying lies concerning my mental health, for the record, I have no mental health or any other record aside from a parking ticket here and there.
"So that law enforcement would unquestionably and mercilessly pursue me.
"When I spoke up, they called me mad, mercilessly gang stalked me and obliterated any semblance of peace, a career or connections I ever had,"
Banks continued. "It's like they took shifts to isolate me by gaslighting me, lying to those who could help concerning my sanity, it was their life's goal to destabilize and break me. Why? To silence me.
"I found out hours before leaving that not only my mothers family, but also my dear husbands were vehemently pursuing a CONSERVATORSHIP ie complete legal control.
"There will be no more lies. Everything in the darkness must come to light. Thus says the Lord.
"PLEASE DO NOT DONATE TO ANY GO FUND ME THAT SAYS I MISSING - I AM NOT MISSING."
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email RadarOnline.com at tips@radaronline.com.
