Jennifer Hudson: Verified Facts on Movies, Albums and Family
Jennifer Hudson’s career record is unusually well documented, while her personal finances are not. This article separates confirmed facts about her films, albums, and family from third-party estimates and relationship claims, and flags where sources disagree.
Born: September 12, 1981, Chicago area | Recognition: Academy Award and Grammy Award | Television: host of The Jennifer Hudson Show | Breakout: American Idol, season 3 (2004)
The table below lists core facts with their sourcing status, so readers can see which entries are firm before reading the detail.
| Fact | Value | Sourcing status |
|---|---|---|
| Birth date | September 12, 1981 | Parade celebrity profile |
| Son’s birth | David Daniel Otunga Jr., August 10, 2009 | Wikipedia career entry (high confidence) |
| Public relationship confirmation | January 22, 2024, on The Jennifer Hudson Show | People relationship timeline |
| Hudson net worth | About $30 million (estimate, not confirmed) | Third-party estimates only |
Career snapshot
- Singer, actress, and talk show host, per the Wikipedia career entry
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls, dated to 2007 by most sources (Gaukurinn profile)
Dated milestones
- Finished seventh on American Idol season 3 in 2004, per a US Weekly profile
- Completed the EGOT with a Tony Award at the 75th Tony Awards in June 2022 (Wikipedia career entry)
Family facts
- Son David Daniel Otunga Jr. born August 10, 2009 (Wikipedia career entry)
- Engaged to David Otunga in September 2008; separated in November 2017 (Wikipedia career entry)
Open questions
- No official net worth figure exists; the most-cited estimate is from the BiographyPoints profile
- The Oscar ceremony date lacks a primary Academy record in the supplied evidence (BiographyPoints profile)
What movies has Jennifer Hudson been in?
Hudson’s breakout film role was Effie White in Dreamgirls, the 2006 film that earned her an Academy Award.
Dreamgirls and her Academy Award
Hudson won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls. Several supplied sources date the win to 2007, but the Wikipedia passage does not state the ceremony date. The year still needs a check against primary Academy records.
Television and film credits beyond the headline roles
- Sex and the City (2008) and The Secret Life of Bees (2008) (Wikipedia filmography)
- Winnie Mandela (2011), Black Nativity (2013), Sing (2016), and Cats (2019) (Wikipedia filmography)
- Respect (2021), in which she played Aretha Franklin (CelebsWiki biography)
- Goat (2026) (Wikipedia filmography)
The implication: this list is the set of credits the supplied sources support, not a complete filmography. A full list would need a primary filmography database.
How many albums did Jennifer Hudson release?
The supplied sources describe four studio albums, with The Gift of Love (2024) as her fourth.
Studio albums and their release years
- Self-titled debut, 2008, which the Mabumbe profile says earned a Grammy in a category the sources describe inconsistently
- I Remember Me, 2011, which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 (Wikipedia career entry)
- JHUD, 2014, which also peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 (Wikipedia career entry)
- The Gift of Love, 2024, her first solo project in roughly a decade, released on Interscope Records (Wikipedia career entry)
The sales figures for the debut conflict. Yahoo Finance reports more than a million copies, while BiographyPoints reports 217,000 first-week sales. Neither figure is confirmed by a chart record in the supplied evidence.
Does Jennifer Hudson have children?
Yes. Hudson has one son, David Daniel Otunga Jr., born August 10, 2009, by emergency caesarean section. His father is David Otunga, her former fiancé. Wikipedia dates their engagement to September 2008, while CelebsWiki gives 2007. The couple separated in November 2017 after more than ten years together.
What public sources confirm
- Son’s birth date of August 10, 2009 (Wikipedia career entry)
- Common’s daughter, Omoye Assata Lynn, born in 1997 (Parade celebrity profile)
- Common’s daughter’s full birth date reported as August 17, 1997, from the Legit.ng profile, which is a tier-3 source
Claims that require a primary source before publication
- The engagement start year (2007 or 2008) is unresolved across sources
- Custody arrangements for the son have no primary source in the supplied evidence
- The son’s current age is reported differently depending on the article date
The catch: the firm family facts rest on Wikipedia and Parade, while the custody and age details rest on nothing a reader can check.
Is Jennifer Hudson wealthy?
Hudson’s net worth has no official figure. Third-party estimates range from about $30 million to $45 million, and $30 million is the most widely cited.
The table sets each published estimate beside its outlet, since none of them states a methodology.
| Estimator | Figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Celebily | About $30 million | Most widely cited estimate |
| The City Celeb (cited via BiographyPoints) | $40 million | Single outlet estimate |
| Impact Wealth (cited via BiographyPoints) | Up to $45 million | Upper-range estimate |
The pattern: every figure is a third-party estimate, and none is tied to a disclosed income statement or filing.
Hudson has not confirmed any net worth figure. Treat every dollar amount here as an estimate, not a reported balance.
Her income sources in the supplied record are film, music, and television hosting. The sources do not assign dollar values to each stream.
Is Common still in a relationship with Jennifer Hudson?
The most recent dated report in the supplied sources is from People, which quotes Hudson calling the relationship “divine.”
Current status and dating timeline
- 2022: dating rumors began during filming of Breathe, in which the two played a married couple (People relationship timeline)
- June 2022: the pair were seen at events in several cities and played down the rumors (Parade celebrity profile)
- January 22, 2024: Common confirmed the relationship on The Jennifer Hudson Show (People relationship timeline)
- September 2024: Hudson publicly described the relationship as wonderful (Entertainment Weekly)
January 22, 2024 is the earliest confirmation all sources agree on. Whether an earlier public confirmation exists is unresolved, so readers should treat that date as a floor rather than a start.
“I’m in a relationship that is with one of the most beautiful people I’ve met in life. She’s smart, she loves God, she has something real down to earth about her. She’s talented.”
Common, on The Jennifer Hudson Show, reported by NBC Los Angeles
“Everything is wonderful. That’s all you need to know.”
Jennifer Hudson, Entertainment Weekly, September 2024
“It’s been divine, every bit of that.”
Jennifer Hudson, People
TL;DR: Common’s on-air confirmation on January 22, 2024 is the earliest date every supplied source supports, so readers should cite that date instead of the 2022 rumors.
What is confirmed and what is still unverified?
Confirmed items come from named outlets with dated statements. Unverified items come from aggregator sites or conflict across sources.
Confirmed
- Hudson’s birth date is September 12, 1981 (Parade celebrity profile)
- Her son was born August 10, 2009 (Wikipedia career entry)
- Common confirmed the relationship on January 22, 2024 (People relationship timeline)
Unverified
- The Oscar ceremony year is 2007 in most sources, but the ceremony date lacks a primary record (Gaukurinn profile)
- Common’s earlier relationships with Erykah Badu, Serena Williams, and Taraji P. Henson have no primary source (Legit.ng profile)
- Common said on The Breakfast Club in July 2024 that marriage would be “to her,” a quote reported only by BiographyPoints
- Hudson’s Emmy attribution conflicts: Gaukurinn ties it to The Jennifer Hudson Show, while People ties it to Baba Yaga (Parade celebrity profile)
The implication: the three confirmed items each trace to a major outlet or encyclopedia entry, while the four unverified items depend on aggregators or single reports.
Related reading: Preity Zinta age, family, career and net worth · Kristin Chenoweth career facts
gaukurinn.is, celebswiki.info, mabumbe.com, thecityceleb.com, tuko.co.ke, biographyhost.com, celebily.com, briefly.co.za, legit.ng, thelist.com, hellobeautiful.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was Jennifer Hudson born?
Parade reports she was born September 12, 1981, in the Chicago area.
Which year is Hudson’s Oscar dated to?
Most supplied sources date the Dreamgirls Oscar to 2007. The ceremony date itself has not been checked against Academy records.
What is The Jennifer Hudson Show?
It is a syndicated daytime talk show that Hudson hosts, according to the Gaukurinn profile.
Who is David Otunga?
He is Hudson’s former fiancé and the father of her son, David Daniel Otunga Jr.
Has Hudson confirmed her net worth?
No. Every net worth figure in circulation is a third-party estimate.
Hudson’s documented record covers her films, four studio albums, one son, and a public relationship with Common dated from January 2024. Readers who need a firm net worth should hold off on citing a number, because Hudson has not confirmed one and no supplied source offers a primary record.
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