Ashley Judd recalls final moments with late mother Naomi: 'I'm so glad I was there'

Ashley Judd is opening up about her final moments with her late mother Naomi Judd.

"The death of a parent is something for which we conceptually have some kind of preparation. And I also knew that she was walking with mental illness and that her brain hurt and that she was suffering, but that didn't necessarily prepare me," Ashley Judd told Anderson Cooper on his grief podcast "All There Is" on Wednesday.

Naomi Judd died in April 2022 at 76. The country singer's daughters Ashley Judd, 55, and Wynonna Judd, 59, shared the news, saying, "We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness."

"My mother's death was traumatic and unexpected because it was death by suicide and I found her. … I held my mother as she was dying," the "Someone Like You" star continued.

"I'm so glad I was there … the first thing out of my mouth was, 'Mama, I see how much you've been suffering and it is OK. It is OK to go. I am here. It is OK to let go. I love you. Go see your daddy. Go see Papa Judd. Go be with your people,'" Ashley Judd said.

On Cooper's podcast, she said she repeatedly told her mother that she could "be free" and that "all is forgiven."

Ashley Judd said her own trauma following her mother's death has come in waves, but eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has helped her cope.

She's also met with other people who may have known Naomi Judd in a different manner, sharing that she's met with everyone from her mother's physicians to her bandmates to grasp a wider picture of her loved one.

Cooper, whose brother Carter Cooper died by suicide in 1988, tearfully shared that he struggles with his brother's manner of death and feels like he "didn't really know him."

"I think we all deserve to be remembered for how we lived and how we died is simply a part of a bigger story," Ashley Judd responded to Cooper.

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

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

Anderson Cooper 'never really grieved'before emotional podcast, he says