Jennifer Hudson recently opened up about the astonishing discovery of her 26 brothers and sisters, revealing the story during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the “Your Mama’s Kitchen” podcast. The “Dreamgirls” star shared with host Michele Norris how she learned about her late father Samuel Simpson’s extensive family when she was a teenager.
“[There’s] a lot of us. Apparently [my dad] had 27 children,” Hudson, 42, said, acknowledging the large number. “I’ve never met all of them, but that’s the thing. I’m a family person, and so when I turned 16, I’m like, I want to go find, Sam is what we call him, and I want to meet all my siblings.”
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Hudson recounted her youthful dream of reuniting all her siblings around a grand Thanksgiving or Christmas table. “It was my dream to have all of us at this grand Thanksgiving or Christmas table, and we all sit and eat together. That was my goal at 16,” she explained.
According to Hudson, her father, who passed away in 1999, had approximately 11 daughters and 17 sons. Initially, she only knew about the two children Samuel had with her late mother, Darnell Donerson: Jason Hudson and Julia Hudson. Tragically, Donerson and Jason were murdered in their Chicago home by Julia’s estranged husband, William Balfour, in October 2008.
Before the heartbreaking loss of her brother Jason, Hudson recalled meeting about six or seven of her other siblings. Despite the tragedy and the large number of siblings she has yet to meet, Hudson’s story highlights her deep-rooted desire for family connection and unity.
