Naomi Judd’s Family Wanted to Seal Her Death Records to Avoid ‘Irreparable Harm’
The family of late country music star Naomi Judd temporarily sealed her death records through a court order. In their legal filing, they noted that the release of the “graphic” evidence collected at the scene of her death could cause “irreparable harm” and pain for her family “for years to come.”
While Judd’s family united on this cause, some sources have suggested that another issue left one member a little peeved. How has the family pulled together since Judd’s death, and what issue supposedly divided them? Read on to learn more.
Naomi Judd’s family wanted her ‘graphic’ death records sealed
NBC News obtained records related to the court order. The family requested to seal the “graphic” records related to Judd’s tragic death from the public. They noted they could “suffer irreparable harm in the form of emotional distress, pain, and mental anguish should these records be released” (per Taste of Country).
The request asked to keep the investigation into Judd’s suicide private. Furthermore, the family shared that some of the evidence collected from the scene depicted her in a “graphic manner.”
“Moreover, the release of these records would continue to cause the entire family pain for years to come,” the legal filing explained.
A temporary order is in place, and an evidentiary hearing is scheduled for September.
Reports suggest Wynonna Judd is unhappy about Naomi Judd’s will
RadarOnline suggested Judd’s daughter, Wynonna Judd, was unhappy about the details of her mother’s will. Judd reportedly named Larry Strickland, her longtime husband, as the executor of her $25 million estate.
Judd and Strickland never had any children, and he doesn’t have any from previous relationships, either. The couple married in 1989, and Wynonna and Ashley seem to have close relationships with their stepfather.
Still, sources told Radar that Wynonna is supposedly “upset” by the omission. They said that’s because she “believes she was a major force behind her mother’s success.”
Importantly, while Judd didn’t name her daughters in her will by name, they could still be inheritance beneficiaries.
Ashley Judd said the family united in wanting Naomi Judd’s death records sealed, but they’re all grieving differently
Ashley Judd explained that the family united and grieved together — albeit differently — after her mother’s death. And according to her, they gave each other the space needed to do that.
“One of the things that I think we have done well as a family, meaning my pop, my sister Wynonna and me, is we have really given each other the dignity and the allowance to grieve in our individual and respective ways,” Ashley explained (per CMT).
She added, “And yet we’ve been able to completely stick together. So, we can be at the same supper table and recognize, ’Oh, this one’s in anger, this one’s in denial, this one’s in bargaining, this one’s in acceptance, I’m in shock right now.'”
Ashley described a mourning ritual she developed with Strickland specifically. “… Pop comes over every morning,” she shared.
“I wake up, and I do my readings and my writing and my meditation practice and connect with my partner,” Ashley explained. “And then pop comes over, and I make his coffee and his breakfast and we sit, and we grieve together.”
How to get help: In the U.S., call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line.
