--- title: Ashley Judd Speaks Out About Twitter Harassment, Sexual Assault description: "It was time to call the police, and to say to the Twittersphere, no more." canonical: https://time.com/3750788/ashley-judd-speaks-out-about-twitter-abuse-and-rape/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-19T15:11:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:19.188Z og:title: Ashley Judd Speaks Out About Twitter Harassment, Sexual Assault og:description: "It was time to call the police, and to say to the Twittersphere, no more." og:url: https://time.com/3750788/ashley-judd-speaks-out-about-twitter-abuse-and-rape/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60d5b1df5060995d/698784480b72e37c426de3dd/466725768.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1996 og:image:height: 1123 og:image:alt: "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" New York Premiere og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ashley Judd Speaks Out About Twitter Harassment, Sexual Assault twitter:description: "It was time to call the police, and to say to the Twittersphere, no more." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60d5b1df5060995d/698784480b72e37c426de3dd/466725768.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ashley Judd Speaks Out About Twitter Abuse and Rape > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Why Marina and the Diamonds Wrote a Song About Rape Culture [Watch (HLS stream): Why Marina and the Diamonds Wrote a Song About Rape Culture](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/riFudUWG.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2015-03-16. The singer talks to TIME about her song_  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Mar 19, 2015 3:11 PM UTC  Actress Ashley Judd attends the "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater on March 16, 2015 in New York City. (Tyler Boye--Getty Images) Actress Ashley Judd attends the "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater on March 16, 2015 in New York City. (Tyler Boye--Getty Images) Tyler Boye—Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Mar 19, 2015 3:11 PM UTC Actress Ashley Judd wrote an impassioned op-ed for [ Mic](http://mic.com/articles/113226/forget-your-team-your-online-violence-toward-girls-and-women-is-what-can-kiss-my-ass) Thursday about the link between online harassment and physical abuse. After she endured hateful online vitriol for a seemingly harmless tweet about basketball, she saw a connection between that Twitter harassment and the cultural misogyny that she believes fueled her experiences with rape and incest early in life. While watching a basketball game Sunday, Judd tweeted that the opposing team was “playing dirty & can kiss my team’s free throw making a—.” She later got so much hatred and so many sexually violent threats on Twitter that she had to delete the original tweet. She wrote: --- > “” --- Soon, Judd realized that the hatred she was experiencing was related to the violence and abuse she had endured as a girl. --- > “” --- Judd, who in addition to her acting career has been a vocal advocate for women’s rights and even has a degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, describes the rape and incest she experienced in her childhood, and recounts how her therapy allowed her to finally come to terms with an attempted oral rape that she also survived. But then, thanks to a single tweet about basketball, she was barraged with violent sexual threats online. --- > “” --- The full essay is worth a read, and you can check it out [here](http://mic.com/articles/113226/forget-your-team-your-online-violence-toward-girls-and-women-is-what-can-kiss-my-ass). _Read next:_ [_Colleges Need to Think Bigger To End Campus Rape_](http://time.com/3740895/college-sexual-assault-campus-safety/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I've really liked the idea of you know being this kind of serious singer songwriter. I like to pursue different I just don't all the same numbers. I guess I'm dialing it back in terms of not wearing a wig. [ LAUGH ] I look like a different person. But I've evolved as an artist and and Froot is an indication of that. [ MUSIC ] I'm not a political person at all [ LAUGH ] but I am interested in, in society and you know, seeing kind of rape culture explode over the past few years and be. Pretty much in the news everyday is sickening. It's more about trying to start a, a conversation about why these things are in. Our human traits, you know, cuz they are natural to us even though it's really hard to hear. No one wants to say that rape is natural. But it's, it's something that's been embedded in us, and it's, it's horrendous. That's a good question. What do I think about pop music right now? I think it's in quite good shape. Alternative kids love pop music and vice versa. It's like, it's a real mesh, especially with hip hop becoming so commercial now, like mainstream. It's very interesting that like, you can be a music fan and not really just be into one type of music anymore. I haven't really been listening to loads of music, to be honest, recently. [ LAUGH ] But I'm sure once I get back from tour, I will. 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