“I have both grief and trauma from discovering her,” said Judd, who began the interview by thanking everyone for the support she and her family have received in the wake of their grief. She also revealed that she was the one who discovered her mother, who had been outspoken about her battle with depression, after it happened. Judd said the family reluctantly shared the cause of death before it became public in some other way. She and her sister Wynonna Judd announced on April 30 that they had lost their mother “to the disease of mental illness.” She was 76.Īshley Judd said she and her family wanted to shed light on mental illness, explaining that it is “important to make the distinction between the loved one and the disease.” So that’s the piece of information we are very uncomfortable sharing.” The younger Judd appeared in an interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on Thursday on “Good Morning America.” She said her family had agreed that she share the cause of death of her mother. Over the years, Judd has spoken out against the media and public attacks she suffered amid her changing looks, which have raised plenty of speculation about plastic surgery.Ashley Judd and her family wanted the world to hear from them how Naomi Judd died.

In addition to her activism and courage in light of the Weinstein investigations, Judd has also had to fight another widespread issue: misogyny directed at aging female actors. Judd contended the episode happened when she was filming the 1997 film 'Kiss the Girls.' In her interview, Judd identified the now-disgraced Hollywood producer as the unnamed abuser she had previously described as 'one of our industry's most famous, admired-slash-reviled bosses' in a 2015 interview with Variety.

In October 2017, Judd became one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment amid The New York Times' Pulitzer prize-winning investigation.

While the bulk of the 'Divergent' star's humanitarian efforts are centered in the developing world, Judd is also active in her home country, where the fight for equality is far from over.

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