Actress Ashley Judd

“Ashley Judd makes a living removing her top, why can’t coal miners?” a poster at a golf tournament declares with an enlarged photo of the actress, her hands covering her bare chest.

From the talented Kentucky family of Country Music legends Naomi Judd and sister Wynonna, the younger Ashley is a political and environmental activist, saying recently that mountain-blasting for coal is the “rape of Appalachia.” 

Judd is also at issue with golf courses cutting Kentucky hilltops, so when the StoneCrest Golf Course of Prestonsburg, Kentucky hosted a coal-industry tournament, someone cozy with coal and golf went to war with the five-by-three-foot poster.

Coal-friendly groups and others say Appalachians are mad over Judd’s preachy sermons that insult their heritage and threaten jobs.  The Someone Like You star counters that “cunning and greedy” Big Coal use scary lies to gut the mountains.

The battle is building with Judd continuing her fight against mountain-blast coal digging, adding that she’s “proud of being a hillbilly.”

While sides posture over what’s best for the “little” Kentuckians, it’s unclear how many “hill people” play golf at exclusive clubs or make $4 million a movie.