Ashley Judd’s new memoir All That Is Bitter & Sweet was released today, and with it information about the actress’s difficult family, and history of tragic abuse. Despite claims by mother Naomi and sister Wynonna that the musical family put “put the ‘fun’ in dysfunction,” Ashley reports that life was barely tolerable living with her stepfather, an “abusive full-blown heroin addict with a criminal record.” Says the younger Judd sister, “I was taught to believe that our lifestyle was normal and never to question it or complain, even when I was left alone for hours, sometimes days at a time, or when I was passed without warning to yet another relative.” It even got to the point where Ashley would take out her mother’s gun, debating whether “it would be worth it to shoot myself.”
Despite her film success through the nineties, continuing to today with the upcoming Dolphin Tale with Morgan Freeman, Judd’s sexual abuse at the hands of a family member’s husband and a local townsperson continued to send her into a depression. “He opened his arms, I climbed up, and I was shocked when he suddenly cinched his arms around me, squeezing me and smothering my mouth with his, jabbing his tongue deep into my mouth,” Ashley recalls about her molestation. Despite her struggles in dealing with her family’s tumultuous past, Judd tweeted this morning, “Book debut. Took a meditative walk to talk with God, grounding. Found myself weeping with gratitude. Called both my parents, thanking them.”
