Straight Talk: Ashley Judd Reveals What She Told Her Rapist After Tracking Him Down

There is no doubt that the mindset of each and every single person is different. While the world sees rape as a heinous crime, there are some people who believe in getting closure by talking to the criminal rather than accusing the person in the first place. Ashley Judd is one of those people.

The ‘Double Jeopardy’ actress, who has successfully survived rape multiple times, took the initiative to open up about her personal conversation with one such criminal who tried to rape her. Here’s all about the conversation that provided Judd closure.

Why Ashley Judd Decided To Have A Conversation With Her Rapist

Ashley Judd sat down with a man who raped her in 1999 for a “restorative-justice conversation.” The 54-year-old actress revealed all of it in the Tuesday episode of the “Healing With David Kessler” podcast, saying that they “ended up in rocking chairs sitting by a creek together.”

She shared that she didn’t want anything specific from the accused but just wanted to know his mindset that led him to commit the crime. The man allegedly expressed “deep remorse and made amends,” Judd said, which was “just gravy” considering she had already “done trauma work” on her own.

“I wanted to share that story because there are many ways of healing from grief, and it’s important to remind listeners,” she added.

The actress previously opened up about being a survivor of rape fr three times. She first shared her story in her 2011 memoir, ‘All That Is Bitter & Sweet.’ In 2015, the ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood’ star thanked her therapist for helping her “finally speak” about the assaults.

The Actress Once Got Pregnant As A Result Of Rape

Judd has shared another tragic story about her rape trauma. She revealed that she became pregnant from one of her rapes. She was very “thankful” that she could get a “safe and legal abortion” at the time.

“The rapist, who is a Kentuckian, as am I, and I reside in Tennessee, has paternity rights in Kentucky and Tennessee,” Judd explained during the 2019 Women in the World panel discussion. She added, “I would’ve had to co-parent with a rapist.”