The Judds The Truth About Our FAMILY

THREE YEARS AFTER THEIR MOTHER NAOMI'S TRAGIC DEATH, ASHLEY AND WYNONNA JUDD OPEN UP LIKE NEVER BEFORE IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY

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Two weeks after her mother, Naomi, died on April 30, 2022, an emotional Ashley Judd sat down with Good Morning America to set the record straight. Her sister, Wynonna, and stepfather, Larry Strickland, had authorized her to share that Naomi, who was 76, had struggled with severe mental illness, which led her to take her own life the day before being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “That is the level of catastrophe of what was going on inside of her,” Ashley said. “The lie that the disease told her was so convincing — that you’re not enough, that you're not loved, that you’re not worthy. Her brain physically hurt.” Ashley was only speaking out to release the details of Naomi’s death before they “become public without our control...whether it’s the autopsy or the exact manner of her death,” she explained. “Otherwise, it’s obviously way too soon.”

Three years later, Naomi’s family is finally ready to open up about their loss like never before. In Lifetime’s upcoming four-part documentary The Judd Family: Truth Be Told, Ashley, Wynonna and Larry share their untold story. “It was incredibly challenging to tackle the subject of Naomi’s death: It was a family tragedy that was still raw. My approach was to really focus this series on understanding Naomi and her life,” director Alexandra Dean tells In Touch of the series, which also examines the Judd family’s struggle with generational trauma and rise to fame. Interviews with the singer's loved ones, including her close friend Reba McEntire, adds Alexandra, “along with Naomi’s own notes and recordings, give us the context we need to understand her death, why it happened, with far more empathy for Naomi.”