Who is Jennifer Hudson?
Jennifer Hudson is an American singer, actress, and songwriter with a lot of awards and nominations to her name. She is widely recognized for her role as Effie White in the 2006 musical drama “Dreamgirls”. Hudson is sometimes fondly referred to by her nickname “J.Hud”.
Jennifer Hudson’s full name is Jennifer Kate Hudson. She was born on September 12, 1981, in Chicago Illinois, United States to Darnell Donerson (mother) and Samuel Simpson (father) as the youngest of four children. She is 40 years old as of July 2022. Growing up, Jennifer Hudson was heavily influenced by her parents and grandmother, Julia Kate Hudson who brought her up with a strong sense of traditional values focused on family and church.
Jennifer Hudson started singing in the church choir after which she graduated from Dunbar Vocational Career Academy in 1991. Jennifer Hudson’s first recognition came after she auditioned for the third season of American Idol.
Jennifer Hudson’s siblings
Jennifer Hudson grew up alongside three siblings named Julia Hudson, Dinah Hudson, and Jason Hudson. However, midway through her career, she and her family suffered an unexpected tragedy when her mother, her brother, and her nephew got murdered by her brother-in-law, William Balfour in 2008.
Jennifer Hudson’s marriage and wedding
As of the time of publishing this article, Jennifer Hudson is not married and does not have a husband. The award-winning singer has never been married, as of July 2022. However, Ms Hudson has been in a few relationships, one of which produced her only son, David Daniel Otunga Jr in 2009.
List of Jennifer Hudson’s boyfriends
- Jennifer Hudson and James Payton dated in 1999.
- Jennifer Hudson reportedly dated Kerry Rhodes in 2007.
- Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga dated in 2008.
- Jennifer Hudson and Will.i.am linked up in 2017.
- Jennifer Hudson was rumoured to have dated American music producer Mali Music in 2017.
- Rumours of Jennifer Hudson dating Marlon Wayans started spreading in 2021, following their appearance on Aretha Franklin’s biopic “Respect”.
About Jennifer Hudson and James Payton’s relationship
Jennifer Hudson and Chicago-based maintenance engineer James Payton (not to be confused with an English actor of the same name) began dating in 1999 when she was just 18 years old, according to reports. The two were described as childhood sweethearts, having known each other since they were kids. According to Jennifer Hudson, James Payton was her rock who supported and encouraged her to get a shot at stardom. According to reports, James Payton was preparing to propose to Hudson and was waiting for the right moment to do so before their relationship took a different turn.
The pair broke up in 2007 after 8 years of dating, citing irreconcilable differences. In an interview, Jennifer Hudson revealed that the reason for her break up with James wasn’t about the fame. According to the singer, she didn’t want to talk about him as he has always been like family till the very day they broke up.
About Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga’s relationship
David Otunga is an American actor, lawyer, and former WWE wrestler. He was born on April 7, 1980, in Elgin, Illinois, United States. He is 42 years old as of July 2022. Jennifer Hudson met David Otunga in 2008 after appearing in the first feature film of “Sex an the City”. They got engaged almost immediately. Less than a year after they met, David Otunga proposed to Jennifer Hudson on her 27th birthday. A month later, Jennifer was struck by the tragedy of losing her mother, brother, and nephew.
A year after their engagement, Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga welcomed their son. Throughout her pregnancy, Jennifer Hudson refused to confirm she was pregnant, but as soon as her son was born, she released a statement. Although their wedding plans were cancelled after the loss of her family members, the pair still revealed they were going to get married someday and were looking forward to the big day.
About Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga’s split
In November 2017, Jennifer Hudson and her ex-beau announced their split. Surprisingly, Hudson filed a restraining order against David Otunga. According to information gathered by DNB Stories Africa, Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga called off their relationship after he accused her of having an affair with music producer, Mali Music. Despite their breakup, they continued to live together while trying to reach a custody agreement for their son.
Jennifer Hudson also revealed that David Otunga called her several times while she was recording at a studio session in Chicago and when he couldn’t reach her, he had their son video her to prove she wasn’t having an affair with the music producer, Mali Music. She further revealed that David Otunga suddenly became violent and allegedly grabbed their son roughly by the hand and forcefully pushed her out of the apartment. As a result of this, she filed a restraining order against him.
However, David Otunga denied these allegations, claiming he never harassed or abused Jennifer or their son. Aside from that, Jennifer Hudson also accused David Otunga of psychological abuse after he intentionally left a gun visible on the kitchen counter knowing full well she was sensitive to guns after the tragic death of her family members. Again, David denied the allegation, claiming he doesn’t own a gun and that it was just a prop he used for an audition.
According to reports, the matter was settled in court and Jennifer Hudson was temporarily granted full custody of their son as well as exclusive possession of the home they shared. In 2018, David Otunga was cleared of the abuse charges and weeks later, she dropped the restraining order against David on the condition that he would never return to her property.
About Jennifer Hudson and Mali Music’s rumoured relationship
Mali music is an American musician and music producer born on January 12, 1988, in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. According to reports, Jennifer Hudson and Mali Music first met in 2017 after Jennifer hired him to perform at a party. They became friends instantly and even recorded a few songs together.
Earlier in 2014, Jennifer Hudson had revealed that Mali was her favourite artist and urged her fans to look up to him. Though fans speculated that her unconfirmed affair with Mali Music was the major reason why she and David Otunga broke up, the EGOT winner never addressed these speculations.
About Jennifer Hudson’s rumoured relationship with Marlon Wayans
Marlon Wayans is an American actor, writer, and record producer born on July 23, 1972, in New York, United States. He is 49 years old as of July 2022. Jennifer Hudson and Marlon Wayans both acted in the new Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” with Jennifer playing the role of Aretha Franklin and Marlon playing the role of her ex-husband and manager, Ted White. Following the release of this movie, the pair were rumoured to have kick-started an off-screen romance. The rumours probably stemmed from the on-screen chemistry they shared in the project.
In an interview, Marlon Wayans gushed about Jennifer Hudson, describing her as an amazing person and a talented actor. He even went as far as sharing various snaps of them from the set with loving captions to prove how much he adores her. According to reports, the two were never a couple as Marlon Wayans was previously married to his ex-wife Angelica Zachary with whom he’s had two children.
Jennifer Hudson’s children
As of July 2022, Jennifer Hudson is the proud mother of one child, a son named David Daniel Otunga Jr. He was born in August 2009 and is currently 13 years old as of 2022.
About Jennifer Hudson’s family’s murder
On October 24, 2008, Jennifer Hudson suffered the tragic loss of her family members which include her mother, brother, and nephew Julian Hudson. According to reports, her mother Darnell Donerson was shot to death in her home in Chicago. Illinois alongside her brother Jason Hudson who was also shot to death with his SUV missing. However, her nephew, Julian who was 7 years old at the time was reported missing and an AMBER alert was issued on his behalf. Still, by the time the police located the missing SUV, Julian was found dead, having reportedly been shot multiple times in the head.
It took a couple of months before the police charged anyone with the crimes, but Jennifer’s brother-in-law, William Balfour was the prime suspect. It was later revealed in court that William Balfour killed Julian because he was a witness to the other killings and he couldn’t risk him staying alive to reveal the truth.
According to reports, William Balfour was married to Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson, and was the father of their son Julian. The two had a terrible relationship which led to a nasty divorce in 2008. Initially, Julia’s family never supported her relationship with William Balfour as they urged her to leave him and take her son with her. Unfortunately, William Balfour found out about this and when Julia ended things with him, he became angry and went on a killing rampage on the Hudson family.
In 2012, William Balfour was sentenced to three life sentences followed by an additional 120 years for his other convictions. Later on, the Hudson family created the Hudson-King foundation in honour of their deceased family members. The main aim of the foundation was to cater for the families of victims of violence. Also, Jennifer Hudson and her sister Julia created another foundation called the “Julian D.King Gift Foundation” in honour of Julian with the sole aim of providing Christmas presents and school supplies to the needy in Chicago.
