Kate Hudson's estranged father once told her she was 'dead to him' and should stop using his name
Kate Hudson turned 41 on April 19, something that she celebrated by having breakfast in bed with her three kids and her boyfriend, Danny Fujikawa, as they all practiced social distancing amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Her mother also joined in the festivities as the actress shared a picture of Goldie Hawn reaching out to her with a glass of wine from her front lawn. There was, however, no sign of her father, Bill Hudson, on her special day, which was not a surprise as the 'Almost Famous' actress has made no secret of the fact that she has had an estranged relationship with him in the past.
Although Bill was around for a few years after he divorced Kate's mother in 1982, his relationship with his daughter and son, Oliver Hudson, sort of fizzled out when Goldie began dating actor Kurt Russell in 1983.
"He was around when [my brother, Oliver Hudson, and I] were young, it sort of teetered out,” Kate confessed in a radio interview in the past, Closer Weekly reported.
She also attributed her broken relationship with her biological father as the reason behind her failed marriage to Chris Robinson and broken engagement with Matt Bellamy. “I think that’s like the age-old psychological core issue for any situation,” she said. “Anybody who has had an experience with a parent that is absent, it’s going to manifest.”
In 2015, in a tell-all interview with Daily Mail, however, Bill narrated a different account of what happened. He accused his ex-wife of cheating during their 6-year-long marriage and after divorce “willfully alienating” him from their children.
“When we split up, she never had a bad word to say about me. But when Kurt came on the scene, the narrative changed and I became the big, bad wolf. I would say to her, ‘Goldie, why are you trashing me and saying I’m an absent father when it’s simply not the case?’ and she’d laugh and go, ‘Oh Bill, you know it makes for a better story,'” Bill claimed.
Kate disagreed, however, defending her mother in an interview. "I never felt it was about losing interest," she explained, E! News reported. "My mom never spoke poorly of him. I was a real tough little girl. I understood what was going on, I did understand that it didn't have to do with me and Oliver."
Shortly before the scathing interview, Kate's brother, Oliver had uploaded a picture of himself and Kate with Bill when they were young, on his Instagram on Father's Day, captioning it, "Happy Abandonment Day."
“That was like a dagger to the heart,” Bill said. “If what he wanted was me out of their lives, then he’s succeeded. I don’t want to see either of my eldest children ever again. It’s over.”
Over the years, Kate has made it clear that she considers Kurt Russell to be more of her father than Bill. Kate's Instagram is filled with pictures of her with the actor. In one of the posts, she even wished him on Father's Day. "Pa, just simply….. Thank you. Happy Fathers Day I love you to the moon and back," she captioned it.
Bill urged Kate and Oliver to stop using his surname if they wanted to not have any relation with him. “I say to them now, ‘I set you free,'” he said. “I had five birth children but I now consider myself a father of three. I no longer recognize Oliver and Kate as my own. I would ask them to stop using the Hudson name. They are no longer a part of my life. Oliver’s Instagram post was a malicious, vicious, premeditated attack. He is dead to me now. As is Kate. I am mourning their loss even though they are still walking this earth.”
Despite not being in contact with her father, Kate said in a 2016 interview that she has forgiven him for every bitter thing he ever spoke about her and her brother.
"I think forgiveness in any aspect is something that is complex. It is the greatest tool to be able to separate that attachment. So for me, I recognize whatever those issues are is something he has to live with. That must be painful for him and I forgive him," she said.
