By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 13:33:15 | Updated at 2024-11-22 03:45:22
1 week ago
Gossip Girl actress Chanel Maya Banks has seemingly broken her silence to make shocking allegations against her family who claimed she was 'missing'.
A slew of disturbing abuse allegations against the star's family were detailed in an Instagram account associated with Banks, 36, on Wednesday night.
The post, which discouraged people from donating to crowdfunding sites in Banks' name, alleged the actress is 'not missing' and suggested indicated she had willingly disappeared 'to escape my cage'.
Relatives of the actress had previously reported her missing, claiming her husband Carlos Jimenez hadn't been helping them in their search.
Police subsequently said that Banks, a resident of Playa Vista, California, had been located unharmed in Texas Wednesday and that no foul play was suspected in the now-closed case.
But her cousin Danielle-Tori Singh has branded the LAPD's update as 'fake news' and vowed to continue spearheading search efforts for Banks, seemingly prompting the actress to take to social media with a statement in which she made the series of strong allegations against her family.
The complicated case swirling around Gossip Girl actress Chanel Maya Banks, 36, took another odd turn Wednesday. Pictured on her TikTok account
An Instagram account associated with Banks posted four frames from a notes app screengrab in which she expressed herself on the issues at hand.
It was not immediately clear if Banks, who appeared on three episodes of Gossip Girl in 2009 playing the role of Sawyer Bennett, herself penned the posts on the account, which is verified and has a total of 70 posts in more than three-and-a-half years, KTLA reported.
Jimenez told the station over the phone that Banks 'had decided she didn't want to talk to the family anymore due to past issues that they had'.
She purportedly said on the social media site: 'My name is Chanel Banks I'm a 36 year old American nobody,' she said, adding her family members 'are all so very 'concerned' about my current whereabouts,'
Banks, who also appeared on a 2010 episode of Blue Bloods, acknowledged speaking with law enforcement amid the probe into her alleged vanishing.
'I have met with the Police and verified that not only am I okay, but I'm finally free from my ... family,' Banks said.
Banks alluded to her religious faith as a factor to cut off contact with some of her relatives.
'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 baptized by one of my favorite pastors Pastor Robert Clancy,' Banks wrote. 'He drove me to the airport and then I was off for a week.'
A message posted on Banks' Instagram slammed her family and discouraged people from donating to crowdfunding sites in her name
She continued, 'God said: 'I'm going to give you some money and I was shocked when it appeared just like He said!'
Banks said God told her to move, so she took a first-class flight 'to the Promise Land.'
The actress also said she was '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.'
Banks said she 'found out hours before leaving' that some of her relatives 'were vehemently pursuing a CONSERVATORSHIP [i.e.] complete legal control.'
She added that 'there will be no more lies' and that 'everything in the darkness must come to light ... thus says the Lord.'
Banks ended her statement in saying: 'PLEASE DO NOT DONATE TO ANY GO FUND ME THAT SAYS I'M MISSING I AM NOT MISSING.'
Banks appeared on three episodes of Gossip Girl in 2009 playing the role of Sawyer Bennett
Banks appeared on a 2010 episode of Blue Bloods
Banks' family claims they last heard from her on October 30 when she texted her cousin Danielle-Tori Singh, who is leading the fundraiser for her urgent return.
The actress had been living at an apartment in Playa Vista with her husband of one year before her family members suddenly stopped hearing from her, Singh told ABC7.
Singh claims that a tip led police to a residence in Texas and a woman who identified as Banks answered the door.
The family however, after viewing police body camera footage from the encounter, claim that woman was not Banks.
Authorities in California had carried out four welfare checks at the actress' Playa Vista property this month alone but Banks was not home on any of the occasions, KTLA reported.
When the family visited the home, they discovered that Banks' belongings were still at the location, including her 'emotional support' dog and car. However, her phone and laptop were not found.
