Ashley Judd says mom Naomi feared ‘retaliation’ from country music world if she didn’t hold ‘certain political line’

Wesley StenzelFri, November 13, 2026 at 1:05 PM UTC

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Ashley Judd and Naomi Judd in Nashville on June 5, 2012Credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty ImagesKey points -

Ashley Judd believes that her mother Naomi Judd “was afraid of disapproval and retaliation” from the country music world.

Ashley believes Naomi felt pressure to “hold a certain political line” with the rest of the industry.

Ashley said that she is “still in relationship” with her mom, who died in 2022.

Ashley Judd is reflecting on the political beliefs held by her late mother, country icon Naomi Judd.

The Double Jeopardy actress discussed the pressures experienced by her mother, who died by suicide in April 2022.

“Mom was afraid of disapproval and retaliation from the country music community if she didn’t hold a certain political line that became a part of the public narrative of that genre of music,” Ashley alleged in the first episode of her new podcast A Table Prepared.

The Kiss the Girls star explained that “in the home,” her mom expressed different political ideas. “Certainly with anyone, but most especially with me, since I held the space for those conversations,” she explained, “she could share all kinds of political and social views that would surprise people if they thought Naomi Judd thought, felt, said that.”

Ashley gave two examples of embattled women to whom she suspects her mother would have extended sympathy. “Both the Navajo mother that harmed her children and the other woman who was on trial for murdering her children — Mom would have a lot of compassion for those women,” she said. “And she would say they need help, not punishment.”

Ashley Judd in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15, 2026Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty

The actress also noted that she’s unsure if her mother “would have been comfortable in her lifetime saying that.”

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The Where the Heart Is actress said that she’s unsure whether she should publicize her mother’s private views after her death. “I’ve debated with myself, is it okay for me to say that posthumously and attribute it to her?” she asked.

Ashley said that she sometimes feels reassured when she attempts to communicate with her late mom.

“I’m still in relationship with my mother, and so I’ve asked her these things,” she said. “I was up the other morning writing with my dominant and non-dominant hand. And she said to me, or the part of my mother that lives in me, said, ‘Honey, I told stories. You tell the truth.’”

She continued, “So she has passed this baton to me, in a way. And stories that were acceptable in her space as a country music star as this mother of America. And the truth is my space.”

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Ashley cohosts A Table Prepared with Pastor Dan Scott. The description for the show aims to “introduce listeners to the conversations they’ve been having for more than four decades — about family, faith, suffering, compassion and the questions that don’t always have easy answers.”

on Entertainment Weekly

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”