Ashley Judd Fractured Her Leg While Grieving Mom Naomi Judd’s Death
Ashley Judd says she suffered a leg injury over the summer that she sustained from a "freak accident" not long after the death of her mother.
In a Zoom conversation with UCLA professor Dr. Jonathan Flint for the Open Mind lecture and conversation series, Judd says the fracture is now fully healed, and she associates the accident with grief.
“It was what it was. Clumsiness is associated with grief, and there were other people in our family, after mom died, who fell down stairs and had accidents, and that’s just what mine happened to look like," she explains, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Although sustaining an injury during an already difficult time isn't ideal, Judd says being forced to slow down helped her to reflect on her mother's passing and process her grief.
"It really allowed me to grieve," she adds. "It really allowed me to stop what I was working on at that moment and to grieve."
The latest leg injury follows a more serious injury she sustained in February 2021, when she shattered her leg in four places after falling in the rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Judd also delved into the aftermath of her mother's death, which occurred by suicide on April 30, 2022, detailing the expansive support system she called upon to cope with the tragedy.
“The day that my beloved mother died by suicide, I had so many people to call," she says. "There were five women who were with me within moments of my sharing that tragic news with them, and they are my chosen sisters."
Judd says that her partner, whom the Hollywood Reporter identifies as a researcher named Martin Surbeck, brought her father back from Europe after they learned of Naomi's death.
"That was a real blessing, but my friend slept with me in the bed and held my hand all night," she says. "That’s the value of community."
The actress and sister of Wynonna Judd also used to the conversation to address being the subject of online criticism from strangers, especially on the topic of weight she says she gained in the wake of her mother's death and her injury.
“I’ve put on some weight and I’m sure people are talking about it but I don’t pay any attention to it because I know it’s a temporary condition and the weight will come off when it’s supposed to," she says. "It’s none of my business what people think of me."
Ashley and Wynonna Judd have been very vocal about leaning on one another during their time of mourning. In a recent interview with Today, Wynonna shared that she and Ashley are "closer than we've been in a long time."
"We love each other. And we show up for each other," she says.