Ashley Judd has taken steps forward after declaring her intention to press charges against Twitter trolls who threatened her with sexual violence.

Ashley Judd Threatened On Twitter

Judd, an avid basketball fan, found herself on the receiving end of a flood of negative, hurtful and threatening tweets his week after she shared her thoughts on the SEC championship game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Arkansas.

“Yesterday I was upset that three Kentucky players were bleeding on the floor…In my impassioned game moment…I wrote, ‘I think Arkansas is playing dirty,’” Judd recounted in an interview with MSNBC.

While Judd expressed her regret at her off the cuff remark, saying that she should have calmed down and articulated her anger without accusing the opposing team of cheating in some way, she still maintains that her statements in no way justify the vile response she received from the public.

“When I express a stout opinion during #MarchMadness I am called a whore, c—t, threatened with sexual violence. Not okay,” Judd tweeted on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Judd announced she would press charges during an interview with NBC News. Many have rallied around Judd’s campaign to fight online bullies, who have a reputation of hiding behind the anonymity the internet and screen names can provide.

Judd herself took to Twitter on Wednesday to thank fans for their continued support and encouraged the Twitterverse to have a conversation not only about anonymous Twitter threats, but also about the misogyny evident in such hateful messages.

Judd also continued to share threats being sent to her via Twitter.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.