EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Judd Sisters' Shared Pain — Ashley 'Blamed Herself' and Wynonna Was 'Filled With Regret' After Mother Naomi's Tragic Suicide
Ashley and Wynonna Judd struggled with guilt after their mother's death, according to a source.
April 29 2026, Updated 4:28 p.m. ET
Ashley and Wynonna Judd were left in shambles after their mother Naomi's tragic death by suicide in 2022.
Nearly four years after the country legend's passing, RadarOnline.com exclusively revisits the Judd sisters' shared pain and how they eventually came together as they grieved their mother.
Naomi Judd's Death
Naomi Judd died at 76 years old.
On April 30, 2022, Naomi died by a self-inflicted gunshot at 76 after years of battling mental health issues.
"Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness," a statement from the family read at the time. "We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory."
Her autopsy later revealed that she had several different prescription drugs – meant to treat bipolar disorder and PTSD – in her system at the time of her death.
Ashley Judd Needed 'Intensive Therapy' After Naomi's Suicide
Ashley Judd was the one who found her mother, Naomi, in her home.
Ashley, now 58, was the one who found her mother shortly after the weapon discharged. In an op-ed written for the New York Times, the Double Jeopardy actress described it as the "most shattering day" of her life, as she confessed that memories of "holding her laboring body haunts" her.
Following Naomi's death, a source told Radar that Ashley had been in "intensive therapy" to deal with what she experienced.
"Ashley was with Naomi that fateful day and still wrestles with the knowledge she was unable to stop her mother from harming herself," added the source. "She still blames herself."
Wynonna Judd Remorseful Over Family Feuds
Wynonna Judd said she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to 'fully accept' her mother's death.
As for Ashley's elder sister, Wynonna, 61, she was also hit hard by her mom's shocking passing.
"The pain of losing Mom to suicide is so great I often feel like I'm not ever going to be able to fully accept that she left the way she did," she admitted in a heartbreaking social media post.
But it wasn't only what happened to her that the No One Else on Earth singer struggled with, but her rocky relationships with her family over the years.
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Wynonna and Naomi Judd were a singing duo for years.
Things got especially difficult for Wynonna after her mother's house sold.
"This was Juddland, for better and for worse. There were good times, but there were also times when Wynonna wasn’t talking to Naomi, or wasn’t talking to Ashley because of various feuds," a friend exclusively shared at the time. "It’s filled Wynonna with regret that things could have been better in her family. She realizes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone."
But Wynonna was able to lean on Ashley after years of strife.
"We love each other, and we show up for each other," she said during an appearance on the Today show. "We don’t agree on much, but we support one another. And we agree to disagree. We’ve had some tough conversations lately about what are we gonna do now that we have each other."
Ashley noted, "We don’t have to be congruent in order to have compassion. That's a really important grace that family members can, hopefully, learn to give each other."
