It will be seven years since Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were brutally murdered in their house, and it's a topic that the Oscar-winning actress has rarely discussed in interviews until today.
In an interview with Glamour magazine, the former "American Idol" contestant finally opened up about the tragic incident that nearly pushed her to give up. Hudson said that she didn't want to publicly speak about it before because, "It's frustrating as hell to me to have somebody who ain't lost nothing try to talk to me about it," she told Glamour. "I want to say, 'Don't even bother, because you know nothing.' But you never know how much you can get through until you're going through it."
A year after the tragedy, Jennifer gave birth to her son, David, and the baby became her lifeline. "I went from being an aunt, having a mom, and being a child to not having a mom, becoming a mom, and raising my own child," she went on in the interview. "I tell David [now six] all the time, 'You saved my life."
Jennifer and the father of her child, David Daniel Otunga Jr., moved to Chicago thereafter, and it is now the place the actress considers as her home. As she tries to move on from the family tragedy, Jennifer reflects that is not always easy, especially when she recently worked on a film that somehow reminded her of what happened to her relatives.
"There's a scene where we're all holding up boards with [photos of] our slain children on them," Hudson said about her latest movie "Chiraq" that's directed by Spike Lee, according to Us Weekly. "I turned around, and it's a sea of real women [as extras] holding pictures of children they actually lost. I'm a character holding a picture of a little girl, but in real life I have the same story."
Despite the misfortune in her family, Jennifer's luck in show business continues to peak. She's set to do her first Broadway show in November, according to People, with the stage adaptation of "The Color Purple."
Jennifer considers this stint very close to her heart and as a mom, she doesn't forget to tell her son about his roots. "I've started by telling him some of the world's greatest people—leaders and athletes—are black people," she said, according to Access Hollywood. "But I also tell him the reality of things, "she added. "I want to teach him, to make him able to make smart decisions for himself."
