Ashley Judd has shared an insight on her troubled childhood in a new memoir "All That is Bitter & Sweet". Baring some shocking secrets about growing up in her country-singing family, the 42-year-old beauty wrote about her painful memories of lies, neglect, sexual abuse, thoughts of suicide and drug addiction in the family.
"My mother, while she was transforming herself into the country legend Naomi Judd, created an origin myth for the Judds that did not match my reality," an excerpt of her memoir, which hits shelves on Tuesday, April 5, read. "She and my sister [Wynonna Judd] have been quoted as saying that our family put the 'fun' in dysfunction. I wondered: 'Who, exactly, was having all the fun? What was I missing?' "
On growing up in a drug-fueled environment, the "De-Lovely" actress shared, "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." She added, "There was always marijuana inside the house."
Recounting her experience with sexual abuse, Ashley wrote, "An old man everyone knew beckoned me into a dark, empty corner of the business and offered me a quarter for the pinball machine at the pizza place if I'd sit on his lap. 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."
While Ashley brought out her family's skeleton out of the closet, she had the support of her mother Naomi and half-sister Wynonna. Speaking out about her daughter's memoir at Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country, Naomi told Entertainment Tonight, "I think it's key for us to spend time figuring our own reality."
The matriarch continued on, "Every unhappiness is tied to a story, and we have to go back and figure out our stories. And then it's our stories that connect us." Her other daughter, Wynonna, chimed in, "And the veil has been lifted. Secrets keep you sick and families will heal once you get real."
"My mother, while she was transforming herself into the country legend Naomi Judd, created an origin myth for the Judds that did not match my reality," an excerpt of her memoir, which hits shelves on Tuesday, April 5, read. "She and my sister [Wynonna Judd] have been quoted as saying that our family put the 'fun' in dysfunction. I wondered: 'Who, exactly, was having all the fun? What was I missing?' "
On growing up in a drug-fueled environment, the "De-Lovely" actress shared, "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." She added, "There was always marijuana inside the house."
Recounting her experience with sexual abuse, Ashley wrote, "An old man everyone knew beckoned me into a dark, empty corner of the business and offered me a quarter for the pinball machine at the pizza place if I'd sit on his lap. 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."
While Ashley brought out her family's skeleton out of the closet, she had the support of her mother Naomi and half-sister Wynonna. Speaking out about her daughter's memoir at Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country, Naomi told Entertainment Tonight, "I think it's key for us to spend time figuring our own reality."
The matriarch continued on, "Every unhappiness is tied to a story, and we have to go back and figure out our stories. And then it's our stories that connect us." Her other daughter, Wynonna, chimed in, "And the veil has been lifted. Secrets keep you sick and families will heal once you get real."