Ashley Judd’s harrowing childhood
Ashley Judd opened the doors to a painful and disturbing past in her 2011 memoir All That is Bitter & Sweet, in which she recounts numerous incidents of abuse she endured.
According to excerpts of the book published by Today, Judd alleges that she was “sexually abused by a family member” as a child. She was also the victim of rape after being taken advantage of by “a creepy Frenchman” when she was pursuing a modeling career in Japan at just 15 years old. Another assault followed that experience, when “an adult male model who lived above her” tried to force himself on her until she “was able to persuade him to stop.”
Judd also alleged that her mother and step-father, Larry Strickland, engaged in “wildly sexually inappropriate” behavior in front of her and her sister when they were growing up. “I now know know this situation is called covert sexual abuse,” Judd wrote. This all led to Judd contemplating suicide in her teens.
In the time since Ashley’s damning revelations, both her mother Naomi and sister Wynonna have confessed to being sexually abused by men in their lives as well.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.