Ashley Judd describes a ‘restorative’ conversation with her rapist

Ashley Judd sat down with a man who raped her in 1999 for a “restorative justice conversation”.

The actress, 54, described the encounter on Tuesday’s episode of the ‘Healing With David Kessler’ podcast, saying they “found themselves in rocking chairs sitting by a stream together.”

The Los Angeles native explained that while she “didn’t need anything from” her rapist, she was “very interested in hearing” his story.

The man reportedly expressed “deep remorse and made amends,” Judd said, which was “just gravy” considering she had already “done some trauma work” on her own.

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

Judd has already spoken publicly about being a rape survivor three times. She first shared her story in her 2011 memoir, “All That’s Bitter and Sweet.”

In 2015, the ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood’ star thanked her therapist for helping her “finally talk” about the assault.

“Nine years into my recovery, I can go one step further and say my ‘story’ is not ‘my story,'” she wrote in a Mic.com essay at the time.

“It’s something that a higher power (spirituality, for me, was vital in this healing) is using to give me the grace and privilege to help others who are still hurting and maybe to offer a little of education, awareness and action to our world,” Judd continued.

The ‘Missing’ alum revealed four years later that she had become pregnant from one of his rapes, telling Katie Couric how ‘grateful’ she was to have access to a ‘safe and legal abortion’ at the time.

“The rapist, who is a Kentuckian, like me, and I reside in Tennessee, has paternity rights in Kentucky and Tennessee,” Judd explained at the 2019 Women in the World panel discussion.

“I should have co-parented with a rapist.”

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).