Conservative site 'Daily Caller' chides Ashley Judd for nude scenes

The conservative news site The Daily Caller mocked actress and activist Ashley Judd on Sunday night for doing nude scenes in her films.

"We are used to knowing just about everything there is to know about serious political candidates," entertainment editor Taylor Bigler said. "But will Judd be the first potential senator who has — literally — nothing left to show us?"

Judd, a Kentucky native, has reportedly been considering moving back to challenge incumbent Rep. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Citing Mr.Skin.com, a site that specializes in cataloging celebrity on-screen nudity, Bigler offered an inventory of Judd's nude scenes, saying, "The actress has bared her breasts in several films and has had some raunchy sex scenes in others."

"My impression is this is something she wants to do, and she is now taking the time to make the contacts she needs to make throughout the state to try and generate commitments of support and in some cases fundraising," Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) told ABC News on Feb. 25. "She is certainly acting like a candidate, a potential candidate."

Think Progress columnist Alyssa Rosenberg criticized Bigler's story on Monday morning, calling it "exceptionally gross" and saying they show conservative anxiety over the prospect of Judd entering the political arena full-bore.

"It may come as a surprise to the Daily Caller, but actresses don't generally take their clothes off on-screen as an expression of some sort of groovy seventies lifestyle, or as a way to have sex with people who are not their spouses or partners," Rosenberg wrote. "Rather, getting asked to take off some or all of your clothes is, for a lot of actors, a frequent requirement of the job, and something that until recently, tended to be asked of women more frequently than men."

Judd's looks were also the object of derision by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in a CNN interview on Feb. 10.

"Ashley Judd is a famous actress, she's an attractive woman and presents herself well and — from what I understand — is articulate," Paul said. "But the thing is she doesn’t really represent Kentucky. I mean, she was a representative for Tennessee last year. She lives in Tennessee. So, I think you do need to make sure people know about that so people don’t think she’s really from Kentucky or lives here."

Videos released by both McConnell's re-election campaign and the conservative super PAC American Crossroads in February chided the actress for, among other things, declaring Tennessee "home," but Yarmuth said that line of attack was a waste of time.

"I think she has no illusions about what Mitch McConnell will do and the fact that his entire career he has demonized opponents and never talks about himself," said of Judd. "In her world she is used to dealing with a lot of nonsense so I think she will deal with it very well."

[Image by Flickr user "Genevieve 719," via Flickr Creative Commons]