Things are heating up with Chanel Banks.
The former missing ”Blue Bloods" actress, also known for her roles in “Gossip Girl” and “Twelve,” has since been found safe but questions are still swirling about her disappearance and why she seemingly wanted to hightail it away from her family.
On Sunday evening, Banks took to Instagram Stories to seemingly give folks a peek at her side of the story, including the fact that she plans to go live on YouTube sometime today.
The screenshot Banks posted was of what seems to be inside her own home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
“Look: 1. The dog and my things were (surprise) in my home … that I SHARE with my husband = DOG GOOD DOG WAS NEVER LEFT ALONE,” she wrote in the post. “2. Pictures of my husband & I are temporarily hidden due to the outlandish accusations that were lobbed at him for this fake missing person campaign.”
“3. Yes, I do have a moderator now on here who is recording every single comment and harassment for multiple police departments so yeeeeah,” she continued. “Keep it up. turns out #imtheRIGHTone. So honored and proud to be a voice for victim abuse. Be brave! Reach out and message me, I want to start a group where we can all come together.
“And I’m done now. Until my YOUTUBE LIVE TOMORROW, where all the triggered fingers can put their conspiracy theories to pasture.,” she concluded.
In another post, she included a lengthy written text against a black screen, saying that she’s now “bulletproof” and isn’t “playing nice anymore.”
“I said I’m Christian, I’m not Jesus. I’m more of a warrior than a hugger. And after what I’ve been through, I’m bulletproof now. I’m not playing nice anymore. Now that I’ve got my freedom, I will never ever let anyone PRETEND to opress me or my beliefs ever again.
“Hopefully after this ordeal with me, you understand that you never know what someone else is going through. Shame on anyone who makes fun of someone crying out in pain at a place of worship (which this time was a gym) pray for those crying out. Don’t shame them. Some of you chose the wrong side a little too quickly and you’re beginning to see that now,” she concluded.
The posts come after Banks posted a short video to YouTube Thursday night and announced that she was filming a television interview.
“As you can see, I am alive,” Banks said while getting her makeup done in preparation for the interview with a soon-to-be-announced television station.
That came after a string of stories were posted to Banks’ personal Instagram account on Wednesday, indicating that Banks was safe, although she accused her family of abuse.
“Please do not donate to any GoFundMe that says I am missing,” one post read. “I am not missing.”
On Wednesday, when announcing that she was alive and well, Banks posted on Instagram that she took a trip to Texas to be baptized by her favorite pastor and wanted to “escape” her mother’s family who had reported her as missing. She also accused her family of “being fame hungry” and said she her stepfather had sexually abused her.
The “escape” also confirmed what her husband, Carlos Jimenez, told KTLA.
“She had decided she didn’t want to talk to the family anymore due to past issues that they had,” Jimenez recently told KTLA during a phone interview.
One post also said that Banks and her husband’s family were pursuing a conservatorship.
Banks' Instagram account is verified and was created in April 2021. The account includes clips from “Gossip Girl” and snapshots of Jimenez.
As previously reported, her family filed a missing persons report with the Los Angeles Police Department after the actress disappeared from her apartment three weeks ago. But on Nov. 11 she was found in Texas and, according to authorities, no foul play was involved.
“She is fine,” LAPD spokesperson Charles Miller told People magazine. “No danger. She is OK. She has been taken out of the missing person system for us and we have closed our investigation.”
No additional details were available.
Banks' family, however, disagreed with the finding, and even slammed TMZ for reporting that the actress was found.
“TMZ IS REPORTING FAKE NEWS,” her cousin, Danielle-Tori Singh, wrote on Facebook.
But since the actress came forward with her own video on YouTube, the GoFundMe her cousin organized was taken down late Thursday night.
Singh posted on Facebook that the family confirmed that Banks was found three hours before that video was posted.
Then, after confirming that Banks was found alive, Singh said all donations that were made to the now-deleted GoFundMe would be refunded. Turns out, thousands were raised, per KTLA.
The 36-year-old is now considered found by authorities and is no longer listed as missing.
This all began when Singh, who flew to California to search for Banks, recently told KTLA that she hadn’t heard from Banks since late October. Banks’ mother, Judy Singh, also flew to L.A. from New York to help with the search.
Once she learned that Banks’ phone was dead and that her car and dog were still at her Playa Vista apartment, she contacted the police.
The family then launched the GoFundMe page that was organized by Singh to help with search efforts.
After Banks was found by authorities, the family didn’t believe that to be true and was under the impression that she was being impersonated.
In a lengthy video posted to Facebook, Singh said she had seen captured footage from Texas police showing an altercation with a person authorities said was Banks. The woman appeared to be skinnier than Banks and was wearing clothes the actress wouldn’t, Singh said.
Singh said she didn’t believe the woman was her cousin, due to police identifying the woman who had Banks’ New York driver’s license, which Singh said is a decade old and had expired.
Banks said her communication with Singh was infrequent, but Singh has since denied that claim with screenshots of text messages supposedly exchanged with the actress.
