Wynonna Judd Admits Enabling Daughter's Meth Addiction

Wynonna Judd has opened up about the difficult realization that her attempts to help her daughter, Grace Kelley, through her methampethamine addiction may have inadvertently enabled it. Judd, 62, candidly shared that giving Kelley money for drugs, believing she was helping, ultimately "bit me in the butt."

Kelley, 30, has battled drug addiction and faced legal troubles for over a decade. She is currently serving a 15-month sentence at Rockingham County Jail in Virginia after pleading guilty to driving with a suspended or revoked license. During an interview with Fox News Digital, Judd, who recently released her album "The Hard Truth," discussed her past enabling behavior.

"I really lost myself with Grace and I enabled her, which comes down to basically giving her money for drugs," Judd admitted. "And here I thought I was buying her a car. And those things really bit me in the butt."

Judd expressed ongoing feelings of guilt and shame regarding her past actions. She now advises other parents struggling with similar situations to focus on their own well-being.

"I would say work on yourself," Judd said. "That was one of the things that I was told. And working on myself, getting the peace, letting her see that she's attracted to that. Maybe she wants to get better herself. So let the light shine."

Her latest album, "The Hard Truth," explores themes of heartbreak, healing, faith, and survival, touching on painful chapters of her life, including her relationship with her late mother, Naomi Judd, and Kelley's struggles.

One of the hardest truths Judd had to confront while creating the album was the possibility that her daughter might not find the healing she desperately needs. "As a mother, I'm devastated by her story, and I just had to let go," she shared.

Judd also spoke about her estrangement from Kelley, with whom she has not spoken for a year. "After all these years, the money ran out, and she did too," Judd said. "And I just have to make peace with the fact that I did everything I could do. Including enabling, and I've had to deal with that. And just the pain of losing her to meth and realizing that there's absolutely nothing I can do to save her anymore."

Their last conversation was tense, as Judd had stopped providing financial assistance for Kelley's repeated attempts at rehab. "Things were tense because I wasn't giving her money anymore and helping her to go back to rehab again and again and again, and again," Judd said. "And I just had to say, 'Sweetheart, you know, you're 30 years old. It's time to stop blaming your mother. And I want you to get the help that you need and you're gonna have to do it yourself.'"

Judd believes sobriety is a prerequisite for any reconciliation with Kelley. "Sobriety," she stated. "You are not supposed to make any major decisions in your life, including relationships for a year after you get clean and sober. And I would ask her to go to rehab again because I know that that's what worked for me."

Judd's own experience with a 42-day treatment program for food addiction in 2006 has informed her perspective on recovery and the example she wishes to set for Kelley. "I'm gonna express that to her, of course, and you're not supposed to really go there, you want the person to want it themselves," Judd said. "But it would take some time because we've been apart a lot. She's been homeless and struggling for years and in and out of prison."

Judd shares Kelley and son Elijah, 31, with her first husband, Arch Kelley III. She reflected on how her demanding career may have impacted Kelley differently than Elijah, noting that Grace was more possessive of her attention.

"Grace was very jealous of my career because it took me away from her enough to where she was not satisfied," she said. "I think because she's the second born, I think it was important to her that I even spend more time with her because I had that with Elijah for a minute."

Judd described herself as "a mom in waiting," constantly hoping for her daughter's return from addiction. Kelley has been incarcerated on and off since she was 17. Judd also revealed that Kelley has reportedly had a second child while incarcerated, a detail she learned about through social media.

Setting boundaries with Kelley proved to be one of the hardest decisions Judd has made. She realized that her enabling could have life-or-death consequences, especially with the prevalence of fentanyl. "I realized, 'Oh my God, it's possible that I could be part of the reason she dies. I'm loving her to death. Literally,'" she shared.

Judd, along with her husband Cactus Moser, has been the primary caregiver and legally adopted Kelley's daughter, Kaliyah, 4, who has Type 1 diabetes. This decision has reportedly caused resentment from Kelley.

"Grace is really mad at me right now," Judd said. "Because I had a career and I was busy, and she didn't have enough of me in the beginning. I did the best I could. I've made a lot of mistakes, and she's really mad at me for stepping in with her child."

Judd's focus is on providing Kaliyah with a stable upbringing on their 500-acre farm in Tennessee, where she engages in chores and outdoor activities.

"Getting away with as much as possible without having to do anything, going on a side by side, ride down to the lake, taking her fishing, we do that a lot," she told Fox News Digital. "And being out in the woods, just being outside is just so heavenly."

Judd described their farm as a "peace place," where her role as "Nonie" takes precedence over her public persona. She admits to having no control over her daughter's addiction, calling it a "nightmarish thing that you hope you wake up from."