Actress and social justice advocate Ashley Judd will speak Tuesday, May 9, at a National Press Club Headliners Luncheon on the need for responsible and respectful reporting on suicides.
Judd's mother, Grammy-winning country music artist Naomi Judd, was suffering from mental illness when she died April 30, 2022, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Click here to purchase tickets.
Ticket sales have been extended to 5 p.m. on Monday, May 8. You must be signed in to access the member price. If you encounter a problem with the reservation, contact Cecily Scott Martin at [email protected].
"The trauma of discovering and then holding her laboring body haunts my nights," Ashley Judd wrote in The New York Times. "As my family and I continue to mourn our loss, the rampant and cruel misinformation that has spread about her death, and about our relationships with her, stalks my days."
Judd is to address her family's experience, how reporters can report more responsibly on suicide and the need for more robust privacy laws.
This will be Judd's third appearance at the Club.
The last time she visited, she spoke about mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.
To submit a question in advance for the speaker, put JUDD in the subject line and email it to [email protected]. The deadline for submitting questions in advance is 10 a.m. on the day of the luncheon.
The event begins with lunch in the Club ballroom at 12:30 p.m. Remarks begin at 1 p.m., followed by a question-and-answer session ending at 2 p.m. National Press Club members may purchase tickets for $25. Non-member tickets cost $45. For all ticketing-related questions, please email [email protected]. Tickets must be paid for at time of purchase.
Credentialed press who would like to cover the event without lunch service should email Cecily Scott Martin with your name and outlet at [email protected] t
Judd advocates for sexual and reproductive rights and health for girls and women worldwide as the United Nations Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador. She has traveled to 22 countries, visiting brothels, refugee camps, hospices and slums, learning directly from the vulnerable and resilient about male sexual violence and how to overcome gender inequality. She chronicled these journeys in her New York Times bestselling book, "All That Is Bitter and Sweet." This summer, she will travel to Slovakia, Ukraine and the Sahel.
In addition to acting awards, Judd has been recognized for her advocacy work. She was Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2017 as one of the Silence Breakers, and in 2019, the UN honored her as Global Advocate of the Year.
Judd graduated from the honors program at the University of Kentucky with a major in French and earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her paper, "Gender Violence: Law and Social Justice," was awarded the Dean’s Scholar Award at Harvard Law School. She has been Leader in Residence at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School.
