In a world where anyone anywhere can reveal what they're thinking in a given moment to millions of plugged-in people with just the click of a tiny, light blue button, unbridled enthusiasm and questionable passions many times make their way out into the digital ether when, in the past, they'd often have lain dormant or remained altogether unarticulated as the person gave further thought to the consequences a seemingly harmless thought, opinion or idea might have.
For actress Ashley Judd - an avid University of Kentucky hoops fan - her decision to tweet during the Kentucky-Arkansas game that she believed the Razorbacks were playing dirty - she has since deleted the tweet, though here is a link to a CollegeSpun article which contains an image of the tweet - was seemingly an ill-fated one.
Her tweet was met with anger, name-calling and, per Judd, threats of sexual violence - she retweeted one of the offensive messages to her followers after allegedly being inundated with similar invectives.
When when I express a stout opinion during #MarchMadness I am called a whore, c---, threatened with sexual violence. Not okay.
— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 15, 2015
I am sorry to retweet but this is a typical example. “@Leeroy_MAX: .@AshleyJudd Go suck on Cal's two inch dick ye Bitch whore.” — ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 15, 2015
Judd said in an interview with Thomas Roberts of MSNBC Monday that she will press charges against the users that sent the offensive tweets.
"The way things happen on social media is so abusive and everyone needs to take personal responsibility for what they write," Judd said.
Judd, 42, revealed in her memoir, "All That Is Bitter and Sweet," that she was the victim of both incest and abuse as a child. She faced abuse at the hands of "numerous men," according to an ACB News report, one of which was a family member.
Judd declined to say how many users she would pursue legal action against.
