Who is Wynonna Judd’s father?
It’s a popular opinion that no mother should ever hold secrets from her child — especially secrets that are life-altering. Naomi Judd was guilty of said action when she withheld news that Wynonna and Ashley Judd shared different fathers. Wynonna’s father is Charles Jordan, according to ABC, not Michael C. Ciminella whom Naomi rushed to marry in 1964, the same year Wynonna was born. Michael and Naomi welcomed daughter Ashley in 1968.
“The first thing I said was, ‘It’s okay,'” Wynonna divulged to Oprah in 2003. “And of course I’m raging inside… and I’ve just now come to realize nine years later, I’m really angry. Being authentic and knowing who you are, not just what you do, is sacred and I’m doing it now, and all the work is painful.”
Naomi opened up about her decision to keep quiet saying, “I don’t know that I thought about it every day of my life, but there were certainly very few days that I didn’t live with this secret and I think it does something to a child.”
To make matters worse, Ashley confessed to knowing the dark secret long before anyone else. “I think not knowing the truth is what has messed her up rather than having found out,” Ashley told Oprah. “I had more compassion and understanding for her because I knew. It’s interesting that I didn’t consider it my place to tell her.”