Jennifer Hudson Discovers Father Had 27 Children, Wants to Meet Siblings

Jennifer Hudson revealed that her late father Samuel Simpson had a total of 27 kids.

The 42-year-old singer recalled how she learned she had 26 brothers and sisters, most of whom she still hasn’t all met yet.

While making an appearance on Wednesday’s Your Mama’s Kitchen podcast episode, she told host Michele Norris: ‘[There’s] a lot of us. Apparently he had 27 children.’ 

The Dreamgirls star — who recently said she feels ‘wonderful’ in her relationship with Common after confirming her romance with the rapper five months ago — also said she is the youngest child out of all of them. 

‘That’s a lot of children,’ she added before adding that her father having 27 children was ‘what we were always told.’

Jennifer Hudson revealed that her late father Samuel Simpson had a total of 27 kids. The 42-year-old singer recalled how she learned she had 26 brothers and sisters, most of whom she still hasn’t all met yet; seen on June 16

‘I’ve never met all of them, but that’s the thing,’ she continued.

She said that she set a goal to meet them all as a teenager after learning that she actually had a lot more siblings than she thought. 

‘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.’ 

‘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 said her father’s side has assisted in connecting the siblings.

“When my grandma on his side passed, my siblings over there were like, ‘Y’all got a sister that can really sing, you should meet her,'” she said. “And eventually we all came together.”

She explained that she was told her father had 11 daughters and 17 sons before he died in 1999. 

The actress said that she initially only knew about the two siblings her father shared with her late mother Darnell Donerson. 

While making an appearance on Wednesday’s Your Mama’s Kitchen podcast episode, she told host Michele Norris: ‘[There’s] a lot of us. Apparently he had 27 children.’ The Dreamgirls star also said she is the youngest child out of all of them; seen in June 7

She explained that she was told her father had 11 daughters and 17 sons before he died in 1999. The actress said that she initially only knew about the two siblings her father shared with her late mother Darnell Donerson; seen in October 2008

Before her brother’s death, she said she had met six or seven other siblings. ‘We found quite a few of us,’ Hudson said. ‘And I’m the youngest of all of them.’ She also explained she was raised by her mother before she later building a relationship with her father; seen in February 2023

She thought she only had one brother Jason Hudson and one sister Julia Hudson before later finding out she had many more siblings. 

Her mother and her brother Jason were shot and killed inside of their family’s home in Chicago by Julia’s estranged husband William Balfour in October 2008. 

Before her brother’s death, she said she had met six or seven other siblings. 

‘We found quite a few of us,’ Hudson said. ‘And I’m the youngest of all of them.’

She also explained she was raised by her mother before she later building a relationship with her father.