Ashley Judd Judged for Puffy Face after Mom Died - She Was Accused of 'Ruining' Herself Yet Was Treating Brain Disorder

It's been a year since Naomi Judd passed away.

• Her daughter, Ashley Judd, discovered her lifeless body. Ashley keeps longing for her deceased mother even though she did not receive any inheritance from her.
• While still tackling her grief, Ashley has faced criticism from online users due to her facial appearance. These users have accused her of using Botox to alter her face.

Ashley Judd has opened up about her childhood and the difficulties she faced. The actress said she was raised by a mother who had a mental illness that wasn't medically diagnosed or treated.

Ashley noted that her mother, Naomi Judd, had behavioral expressions, choices, interactions, and flights of fancy that were symptoms of the disease.

The actress said that over the years, she had learned more about mental illness and now understood that she didn't cause her mother's disease, couldn't control it, and couldn't cure it. She added that her mom tried to raise her children well despite the illness:

"I understand that and know that she was in pain and can today understand that she was absolutely doing the best she could, and if she could have done it differently, she would have."

The actress also said her mother's life was filled with trauma, which impacted her mental health. She noted that her great-uncle had sexually assaulted her mother at age 4. Ashley went on to say her mother experienced the same trauma when she was an adult.

The "Twisted" star said her mother was harassed at work, but she had to endure because she was a single mother raising two girls on low-wage jobs. As an adult, her mother was sexually assaulted and was a target of close partner violence.

Ashley divulged that the assaults and violations her mother encountered caused her pain and unhealed trauma, which made her mental illness worse. However, she added that Naomi fought back all these negativities with all the skills she possessed.

The actress said her mother wrote about the #MeToo Movement in her journal and the therapy she had to go through to address her childhood and adult trauma.

Ashley noted that despite her mother being a star and shining on the outside, the mental illness signs were visible at home. She revealed that her mom had a hard time even getting off the sofa and that the only place she loved visiting every day was the cheesecake factory.

The actress said her mother's mental illness isolated her, but it didn't stop her from being a kind and sensitive woman who the staff at the cheesecake factor loved.

However, the actress was grateful for all the people who showed up for Naomi, including her sister Wynonna Judd.

The trauma her mother went through left Ashley with her own unresolved childhood grief and a lot of sexual traumas. The actress said that as much as she was out in the world doing well careerwise, the unresolved issues held her back to the point that she had to seek professional help.

Ashley's mother's long battle with mental illness eventually came to an end when she died by suicide in her home. The actress shared the news on her Instagram and told the world that they had lost their beautiful mother:

"We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by the public. We are in unknown territory."

Ashley's Overwhelming Grief after Her Mother Died by Suicide

Ashley Judd celebrated her first birthday in 2023 without her mother, who died on April 30, 2022. Ashley, who was born on April 19, 1968, remembered all the special birthdays she shared with her mother in the past.

The actress's mother died by suicide after battling mental illness for a long time. Ashley discovered her mother's lifeless body on the day she died. She said her mother's death was "abrupt and painful, and my world is upside-down."

According to Ashley, she had visited her mother in Tennessee as she did each day. On that fateful day, her mother asked her if she could stay with her a bit longer, to which Ashley agreed.

During this visit, Ashley went outside to let in a friend who had visited, and when she got back into the house to tell Naomi that her friend had arrived, she discovered her mother's lifeless body. "I have both grief and trauma from discovering her," said the actress.

The "Heat" star also said she would not share any more intricate details about that day because she feels her mother is entitled to her dignity and privacy. "There are some things that we would just like to retain as a family," she added.

Ashley revealed that, as a family, they were dealing with their grief differently but as one. Speaking to David Kessler on his "Healing with David Kessler" podcast, Ashley said:

"One of the things that I think we have done well as a family, meaning my pop, my sister Wynonna and me, is we have really given each other the dignity and the allowance to grieve in our individual and respective ways."

The actress noted that even when they are together, they can easily spot the stages of grief each one of them is in, "This one's in anger, this one's in denial, this one's in bargaining, this one's in acceptance, I'm in shock right now."

When Naomi died, her husband Larry Strickland was traveling in Europe. Larry is Ashley's and Wynonna's stepfather, and they lovingly call him pop. Ashley had to call Larry when Naomi died to inform him of her death:

"I was in high functioning shock, and we all grieve in our own ways, and you know I just said, pops, I love you, and I'm with you."

The 55-year-old said her partner flew to Vienna to bring her father back home. She noted that Larry would not have been able to fly home alone.

Ashley recently shared how hard it was for her to celebrate her birthday without her mother.

The actress also said her community came together to help her during that moment as they organized for food, took out the trash, swept porches, and placed furniture coverings at night to protect her seats from dew. She praised her community:

"That was a real blessing, but my friend slept with me in the bed and held my hand all night. That's the value of community… My community held me physically, and they held my home, and they held my soul."

Ashley added that she, Wynonna, and her stepfather were neighbors and visited each other regularly to sit and find comfort in their mutual grief. The actress noted that when she woke up, she read, wrote, meditated, and connected with her partner before her father arrived.

When her father arrived, they would make coffee and breakfast and grieve together. Ashley said their grieving looked like different things on various mornings:

"I might cry, we might just talk. I gave him a journal one morning and now he's got his practice of writing and I mean, it's just those times are so holy, and we may be in slightly different places, and yet we're in community."

The actress admitted that she and her sister were in a different place in their grieving. However, she noted that Wynonna visited her, and they spent time talking, rubbing each other's feet, and sleeping over.

Ashely added that people's grief does not have to align for them to show empathy and compassion to each other. She urged families to give each other the grace to grief at their own time and way.

When Ashley appeared on ABC7 in an interview, Wynonna supported her by sending her a letter for her sister to share in public. In the letter, Wynonna said she was thinking about her sister and that she loved her.

Unlike Ashley, Wynonna was not ready to speak to the public after her mother's death. She wrote in the letter that she needed time to herself to process the loss. Wynonna said her sister understood why she couldn't be with her during the interview:

"I've been looking at photos of us when we were little…you were such a cutie pie, I laugh, and I cry, and I thank God we have each other... I'm grateful we are connected as we walk together through this storm, I just can't believe she's gone."

Wynonna told Ashley that they would have to go through the loss differently and that it would take time before they got to the same place. Ashley's sister also said she loved her and was proud of her for having the courage to speak out. "I am here whenever you need me," she added.

Ashley has also opened up about the accidents and misfortunes that have happened in relation to her grief. The actress said she experienced a fracture on her leg due to bungling associated with grief. The fracture healed in two months.

She disclosed that most people in her family also had accidents after Naomi died. Some members of her family fell down the stairs. Ashley noted that her grief resembled clumsiness and accidents that gave her the opportunity to grieve her mother.

The actress also noted that she added weight while grieving and knew that people said ugly comments about her weight gain. However, she said the comments didn't concern her as she knew the weight gain was temporary and that the vile comments were a result of misogyny.

Ashley called out the people who were engaging in sexist conversations about her weight to stop noting that she is in her 50s and allowed to have body changes.

Ashley has also come under fire for undergoing plastic surgery. "Wow that's some really bad plastic surgery," a person tweeted. Another online user said, "Ashley Judd needs to lay off the Botox. I have no idea why so many people keep ruining themselves with all the cosmetic surgeries/injections. They do not look better!"

Users said the actress used to be beautiful, but repeated surgeries and facelifts have distorted her original appearance. "It's more than Botox…she needs to lay off the fillers. Holy Moly! I'm heartbroken for them losing their mom," a user commented.

People also said Ashley should learn to age gracefully, as growing old was a gift. They added that makeup was all she needed and warned her that Botox was a neurotoxin that would temporarily lead to muscle paralysis:

"Hell some of these actresses put so much make up on. It should be classified as a mask. When you're unrecognizable between with/without make up. You've gone too far."

Ashley responded to the online critics by admitting that she had undergone Botox but not for beauty purposes. She noted that she had been sick for over a year:

"Have I had Botox? It is a standard treatment for the ailment that I experience…My last siege migraine lasted a grueling four and a half months. Along with medication and the inevitable laziness that gathers around forced inertia, I have experienced some un-fun weight gain."

In 2019, the actress shared that she had had a siege migraine for 11 days and was hospitalized for treatment. There is currently no cure for migraines, so Ashley uses regular Botox injections for the medical condition.

Ashley Honors Her Mother's Memory despite Not Receiving Any Inheritance from Her

Ashley recently shared how hard it was for her to celebrate her birthday without her mother. She remembered her mother's love with a cute Instagram post:

"Thank you, Mom, for all my birthdays so far, and for celebrating me: for holding me at bedtime and whispering in my ear, Ashley, you are an extraordinary woman…What more does a birthday girl need than memories of a mother like that?"

The actress said that she visited the shop where her mother always shopped for their birthday cards and wondered what card Naomi would have gifted her:

"She always chose the gooiest and most expressive, underlined the parts she thought most meaningful, and of course, wrote by hand her own message addressed to Sweetpea."

The "She Said" actress also recalled how every year on her birthday, Naomi would recount to her the day she gave birth to her. Her mother would tell her how she smiled and felt when she first held and smelled her.

In honor of her mother, Ashley said she would intensify her efforts in advocating for laws that protect the privacy of families affected by death by suicide. She added that the laws should also look into responsible reporting of mental illness.

According to Ashley, it should be inappropriate and unethical for online and print media to reveal intimate information about the manner of someone's suicide, as was done after her mother died.

The actress and her sister, who have been advocating for mental health issues such as suicide, which earned them the Lifesaver Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The award affirms their role in destigmatizing mental illness.

Ashley also shared that Mercy Community Healthcare in Franklin, Tennessee, had honored her mother by naming a mental health facility after her:

"It hurt Mom that people hurt and that they could not access the care she could. This would be a balm for her distressed mind and sweet soul."

The "Someone Like You" actress keeps speaking positively about her mother as much as she left her and her sister out of her will. Naomi named her husband of 33 years as the executor of her estate.

It was not revealed whether Ashley and Wynonna are beneficiaries of any of their mother's properties or if the country singer had set up a trust fund for her daughters.

Currently, Ashley is focused on her advocacy work related to mental health, mental illness, and suicide. The actress has asked anyone with ideas or impulses regarding suicide to talk to someone, to share, to be open, and be vulnerable with their situation as well as seek help.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "help" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.