8 Judd Family Secrets No One Knows: Naomi's Violence, Wynonna's Wild Daughter & More

Wynonna and Ashley Judd, the daughters of late country superstar Naomi, became rich and famous by clawing their way to the top. But more often, they had their claws out toward each other — harboring a lifetime of secrets!

In an OK! special report, we lift the lid off the Judds’ strife, including:

• Why Naomi didn’t tell Wynonna who her real father was until she was 30, fearing it would tear apart their country act
• How Ashley witnessed her mother’s violence firsthand — when Naomi fired a gun at husband Larry Strickland
• Why Wynonna’s wild-child daughter Grace longed to be adopted by Aunt Ashley — and how Grace was busted for manufacturing meth
• How Naomi even contemplated suicide during a freeze-out from Wynonna

Secrets started early for the Judds. Naomi, who died age 76, dated both Charlie Jordan and Michael Ciminella while attending high school in Ashland, Ky.

She became pregnant by Charlie, but told Michael he was the father. When Naomi gave birth to Wynonna in 1964, she married Michael. But when the pair welcomed Ashley in 1968, it didn’t take long for Michael to get wise!

“Michael noticed his daughters looked so dissimilar — so he confronted Naomi,” the friend says. “Naomi admitted Wynonna wasn’t his, but begged Michael to keep it a secret.”

It wasn’t until after a published report revealed 53-year-old Wynonna’s secret dad that Naomi decided to come clean to her daughter.

“Wynonna spent 30 years of her life believing Michael was her dad,” the source squeals.

Meanwhile, Ashley, 49, had troubles of her own. Her parents split when she was a toddler, and her mother took up a tumultuous relationship with musician Larry Strickland.

In her 2011 memoir, Ashley recounted how Naomi pulled a gun on him more than once.

Ashley was constantly at war with her mother — finding herself a latchkey kid when The Judds hit the big time. “She ended up begging her mother to let her go live with her dad,” says the insider.

“Naomi and Wynonna really alienated Ashley with their music career.”

The family dysfunction heightened when Wynonna had children of her own. Grace, the second of her two kids by first husband Arch Kelley III, had “a horrible relationship” with her mother, according to friends.

She constantly ran away.

In 2013, Grace, now 21, fled to Aunt Ashley’s house. While Ashley took her in, a new drama exploded: Ashley accused Wynonna of hiring a private investigator to plant a tracking device on a car she was letting Grace use.

The case went to court, and Ashley won temporary custody of her niece.

But Grace’s problems persisted, and she was arrested in 2015 for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine.

“It was heartbreaking to see,” the source whispers. “The Judd family’s cycle of woe was repeating itself in the new generation.”

Meanwhile, problems between Naomi and her daughters continued. Following a 2010 reunion tour of The Judds, Wynonna cut off communication with Naomi, even though they shared the same property.

The pair went three years without speaking — and Wynonna didn’t invite Naomi, or Ashley, to her 2012 wedding to third husband Cactus Moser.

Ashley only had intermittent contact with her mother, the source says.

“You can’t say they didn’t try,” a friend explained. “They went into family counseling. It seemed they’ll always be estranged. There are some wounds that never heal.”

Naomi died in April outside Nashville. She was 76.