Ashley Judd gives moving speech on reporting about suicide: 'Talk about how there is help'

This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Ashley Judd is sharing guidance for how the media should cover suicide following the highly-publicized death of her mother, Naomi Judd.

The actress and social activist delivered her moving speech to the National Press Club Tuesday, days after she received the Survivor of Suicide Loss Lifesaver Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for her efforts in advocacy.

"The media has a grave responsibility," she said, noting that the way writers report on suicide can "can act as a contagion and cause a rise in deaths" and "even inspire copycat deaths of the same method."

She implored journalists to hold themselves to the reporting standards established by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

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"Never say committed, say death by suicide. Never talk about the method. Never talk about it as skyrocketing. Always provide the suicide hotline number. Talk about how there is help talk about how there is hope. Talk about it as a mental health issue, how there is treatment that is available," she said.

Judd also shared about her mother's upbringing and battle with mental illness.

"She was a good mother. And she had a disease that lied to her," Judd said. "That was an unfair foe that lived rent free in her head and caused her irreparable suffering and eventually made her hurt so badly that she believed on that day that she would only get worse and never better. Her disease was a thief. It took her hope and it took her life."

Ashley Judd was there at the time of her mother's death, she said. And she shared what came in the moments and months after. She said that she was interrogated, recorded without warning and had no idea that everything she was saying in the aftermath of her discovering her mother was public record in the state of Tennessee.

Fighting back tears, she offered a piece of advice for the audience.

"Just because a police report is indeed public record does not mean that you can or should broadcast or print it. What the law does not constrain, common sense and basic decency should," she said.

Judd added that the police report and all its contents — including images, and a 911 call — live in perpetuity on the internet after some media members requested the report and made it public online. The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY, network did request documents including the autopsy. It shared the cause of Naomi Judd's death without specifics.

"Our family lives with the permanent tragedy of the loss of our matriarch. And because certain media published the bloody images of her death in our interviews, we live with a form of public violence that complicates and compounds our lifelong grief," she said.

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Ashley Judd: Reveals mother Naomi Judd's cause of death

Naomi Judd died April 30, 2022. The country singer's daughter Ashley and Wynonna Judd shared the news that day, saying "we lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness."

Weeks later on May 12, Ashley Judd appeared on "Good Morning America" and revealed more details of her mother's death to Diane Sawyer.

Ashley Judd said Naomi "used a firearm," which an autopsy confirmed.

"That’s the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing, but understand that we’re in a position that — if we don’t say it, someone else is going to," she said.

The actress also said she visited with her mother that day and she was the one who "discovered her."

"Sister and Pop deputized me in certain ways to speak on behalf of the family at this early time before details about the 30th of April become public ('a part of the gossip economy') and are out of our control — whether it's the autopsy or the exact manner of her death. That is the impetus for this, otherwise, it's way too soon," she told Sawyer.

One day after Naomi Judd's death, The Judds, which comprised of Naomi and Wynonna Judd, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The Judds achieved 14 No. 1 hits over three decades, splitting as a performing act in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis. Between 1984 and 1991 alone, the Judds had 20 Top Ten hits, and tallied five Grammys, nine CMA Awards, and seven ACM Awards.

Since arriving in Music City in 1979, Naomi Judd — and her family — were foundational staples of country music's continued pop evolution through the 1980s and beyond.

On Tuesday, Ashley Judd finished her speech with a clear message: "Everyone deserves to be remembered for how they lived and not what happened on the day they died," she said.

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call 988 any time day or night, or chat online. Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.

Contributing: Staff and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ashley Judd talks media covering suicide after mom Naomi Judd's death