Talk about eerie similarities.
We all know by now about the tragic passing of country music star Naomi Judd from the country group The Judds, and how she passed away due to suicide after a long struggle with mental health.
Well, the new country music TV series Monarch, starring Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins, appears to have eluded to Naomi’s death in the first couple of episodes.
One of the scenes in the second episode shows Dottie Cantrell Roman (Sarandon) planning out her own suicide, and even featured her own funeral that she had mapped out by Dottie before she made the move.
Of course, aside from the suicide, Sarandon’s character has auburn hair, a similar shade to Naomi, her character is from a country music family, her daughter is a country music singer as well.
But perhaps the oddest part?
The funeral scene from the show even featured the Judds’ song “Love Can Build a Bridge,” which was performed by Wynonna Judd at Naomi’s funeral.
However according to Deadline, executive producer Jon Feldman, who replaced Michael Rauch while filming last November, says it’s all a strange coincidence and that the show was filmed way before the tragic passing of Naomi Judd.
“From what I knew about the show, it was inspired by the lives of many country artists. It drew from that world. One of the producers is Jason Owen, who’s a top music manager in Nashville.
Until the death of Naomi, which was really the most tragic and eerie of coincidences, there was no [similarities] between the Romans and the Judds. The Romans are a fictional first family of country.
But really, the turn of events of Naomi’s death was something no one could have predicted.”
Feldman also weighed in on the coincidence of playing The Judds’ song “Love Can Build a Bridge:”
“That was another eerie coincidence. As I said, Jason Owen, who was a producer on our show and was heavily involved in production and music, was also very close to the Judds and was involved in the producing of her real-life funeral.
No one knew that Naomi had made that decision to have that song. We were already done with our production by the time she passed away. Our cast had scattered all around the world and production was over. So we didn’t have an opportunity to reshoot anything.”
Although it’s all just a strange coincidence, it’s definitely caught the attention of viewers who were shocked by the parallels:
Is this Monarch show supposed to be about the Judd family bc they look like the Judd family
— ƚ black philip ƚ (@final_bossx) September 17, 2022
Let’s just be honest, @MonarchOnFOX is awesome as I could tell it would be by the trailers, however while it is fictitious it eerily seems similar to the Judd family. #MonarchonFox #Monarch
— CompassionateRepub (@CrunchyRepub) September 21, 2022
I really feel like #Monarch is a cheap punch at the Judds
— Jessica Mummert (@dog_bonus_mama) September 12, 2022
I don’t suspect Monarch will last long since there’s too many similarities to the Judds and what happened to Naomi was so recent.
— Queen of Pickles (@RebelRoseYell) September 13, 2022
"Mama's gone…it was her time…" Folks, we just had a country music daughter involved in a sleeping pill death of her country music playing mom.
Yeah. If you remember the Judds, why this was delayed for as long as it was is EXACTLY why you're pissed off. #Monarch #MonarchOnFox
— DigiRanma (@DigiRanma) September 12, 2022
Is this“Monarch” on Fox basically “how close to trashing the Judds can we get without them suing” or is it just me?
— Misandrosaurus Bex (@bexone) August 28, 2022
Is this #Monarch show about the Judds?
— #72Ours – OUT NOW! (@tashalharrison) August 22, 2022
Here’s the trailer:
