Ashley Judd

In a heartfelt new column for The New York Times, actor and activist Ashley Judd is calling for revisions to law enforcement and court practices that "wreak ...

“In the immediate aftermath of a life-altering tragedy, when we are in a state of acute shock, trauma, panic and distress, the authorities show up to talk to us. “As my family and I continue to mourn our loss, the rampant and cruel misinformation that has spread about her death, and about our relationships with her, stalks my days. “The trauma of discovering and then holding her laboring body haunts my nights,” she writes. Instead, without it being indicated I had any choices about when, where and how to participate, I began a series of interviews that felt mandatory and imposed on me that drew me away from the precious end of my mother’s life. And at a time when we ourselves were trying desperately to decode what might have prompted her to take her life on that day, we each shared everything we could think of about Mom, her mental illness and its agonizing history.” This profoundly intimate personal and medical information does not belong in the press, on the internet or anywhere except in our memories.”

Authorities made actress Ashley Judd feel "like a suspect" after they interrogated her as her mom Naomi Judd's "life was fading."

We are in unknown territory,” they said in a joint statement. “I gushed answers to the many probing questions directed at me in the four interviews the police insisted I do on the very day my mother died — questions I would never have answered on any other day and questions about which I never thought to ask my own questions, including: Is your body camera on? 12

Ashley Judd petitioned to keep records on her mother Naomi Judd's death investigation private and wrote in a New York Times “Opinion” essay that publicizing ...

Naomi, [one-half of country duo the Judds](https://www.vulture.com/2021/08/country-music-hall-of-fame-2021-inductees-complete-list.html) with her daughter Wynonna, died by suicide on April 30, and [Judd previously opened up](https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/ashley-judd-naomi-judd-death-gma.html) about discovering her mother that day. [in the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/opinion/ashley-judd-naomi-suicide.html)’ “Opinion” section on August 31 detailing her stance against Tennessee laws that could publicize investigation files about [her mother Naomi’s recent death](https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/naomi-judd-the-judds-death-76-mental-illness.html). “We ask because privacy in death is a death with more dignity,” Judd continued. “And for those left behind, privacy avoids heaping further harm upon a family that is already permanently and painfully altered.” [Good Morning America](https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/ashley-judd-naomi-judd-death-gma.html) in May, she said she wanted to avoid “the gossip economy” and reiterated that stance in her essay. In her new statement, the younger Judd sister wrote that her family petitioned to keep files on her mother out of public domain.

Ashley Judd has written a commentary on why she is petitioning to block the release of an investigative report on Naomi Judd's suicide, citing aggressive ...

“Some know her as a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, others as the warmest person they ever sat next to on an airplane. We feel deep compassion for Vanessa Bryant and all families that have had to endure the anguish of a leaked or legal public release of the most intimate, raw details surrounding a death.” Judd concedes that she doesn’t have a good sense of whether the court will agree with “our belief that what we said and did in the immediate aftermath of Naomi’s death should remain in the private domain — just as it should for all families facing such devastation. Most relevant to her objection to the report, though, is that she says family members revealed many personal things in the heat of interrogation without any thought as to how those details would forever become part of the public record. This profoundly intimate personal and medical information does not belong in the press, on the internet or anywhere except in our memories.” “I felt cornered and powerless as law enforcement officers began questioning me while the last of my mother’s life was fading,” Judd writes.

Ashley Judd is advocating for her family's right to privacy following the death of her mother, Naomi Judd, in April. Here's what she said in a powerful ...

She was treated for PTSD and bipolar disorder, to which millions of Americans can relate.” “I felt cornered and powerless as law enforcement officers began questioning me while the last of my mother’s life was fading,” the actor shared. She recalled having to answer questions from law enforcement the day of her mother’s death. The horror of it will only worsen if the details surrounding her death are disclosed by the Tennessee law that generally allows police reports, including family interviews, from closed investigations to be made public.” One part of our story is that our matriarch was dogged by an unfair foe. And for those left behind, privacy avoids heaping further harm upon a family that is already permanently and painfully altered.” But the activist said she can have an impact on her mother’s legacy. “April 30, 2022, was the most shattering day of my life,” she began. Those emergencies are tragedies, not grist for public spectacle,” Judd wrote. The trauma of discovering and then holding her laboring body haunts my nights.” In the article, Judd explained why information surrounding Judd’s death, like police reports and family interviews, should not be made available to the public. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit

No pude ayudar a mi madre, Naomi Judd, quien perdió una larga batalla contra una enfermedad mental. Sin embargo, puedo hacer algo sobre cómo es recordada.

Aunque soy consciente de la necesidad de que las autoridades investiguen una muerte repentina y violenta por suicidio, no hay en absoluto ningún interés público que ampare o justifique la divulgación de los videos, las imágenes y las entrevistas realizadas con mi familia en el transcurso de esa investigación. De mi hermana y yo decía que éramos sus “joyas de la corona” y “lo mejor que he hecho nunca”. También necesitamos reformar los protocolos de las fuerzas de la ley que causan estragos en las familias de luto y después agravan su traumático dolor haciéndolo público. La gente se identificaba con su sinceridad respecto a sus errores, la admiraba por su capacidad para sobrevivir a las adversidades y se regocijaba con su impensable ascenso al estrellato. Y ahora que por mi amarga experiencia sé del dolor que se les inflige a las familias a las que un ser querido se les ha muerto por suicidio, mi intención es hacer de la subsiguiente invasión de la intimidad —de la persona fallecida y de la familia— una causa personal y también judicial. Se trata de información personal y médica profundamente íntima que no debe estar en la prensa, ni en internet, ni en ninguna parte, salvo en nuestros recuerdos. En cambio, sin que nadie me indicara que tenía la posibilidad de decidir cuándo, dónde y cómo prestarme a ello, comencé una serie de entrevistas que sentí como obligatorias e impuestas sobre mí y que me apartaron de los valiosos últimos momentos de la vida de mi madre. Quiero dejar claro que la policía solo estaba siguiendo unos terribles y anticuados protocolos y métodos de interacción con los familiares conmocionados o traumatizados, y que las personas que estaban en la habitación de mi madre aquel día trágico no hicieron nada malo ni incorrecto. Me sentí acorralada e impotente cuando los agentes de la ley empezaron a interrogarme mientras se desvanecía lo que le quedaba de vida a mi madre. Como la mayoría estamos socialmente condicionados para cooperar con las fuerzas del orden, nos encontramos completamente desprotegidos sobre lo que decimos. Mientras mi familia y yo seguimos afligidos por nuestra pérdida, la desinformación, abrumadora y cruel, que se ha difundido sobre su muerte, y sobre nuestra relación con ella, me acecha cada día. Los familiares que han perdido a un ser querido suelen ser revictimizadas por las leyes que permiten sacar a la luz pública sus momentos más privados.

Ashley Judd says that she felt like a possible suspect during authorities' initial investigation into her mother Naomi Judd's suicide, in an op-ed.

The raw details are used only to feed a craven gossip economy, and as we cannot count on basic human decency, we need laws that will compel that restraint." That file includes photos and videos taken at the scene, as well as videotaped interviews with family members that were recorded in the hours directly after Judd's death. "I want to be clear that the police were simply following terrible, outdated interview procedures and methods of interacting with family members who are in shock or trauma and that the individuals in my mother’s bedroom that harrowing day were not bad or wrong. Ashley Judd later confirmed that her mother had died from a self-inflicted firearm wound. "It is now well known that law enforcement personnel should be trained in how to respond to and investigate cases involving trauma, but the men who were present left us feeling stripped of any sensitive boundary, interrogated and, in my case, as if I was a possible suspect in my mother’s suicide." "I gushed answers to the many probing questions directed at me in the four interviews the police insisted I do on the very day my mother died — questions I would never have answered on any other day and questions about which I never thought to ask my own questions, including: Is your body camera on?