Hawn and Hudson were married from 1976 to 1982 during which time they had Oliver Hudson and Kate Hudson
Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 2, 2022. It has since been updated.
Goldie Hawn's beautiful relationship with partner Kurt Russell has lasted nearly 40 years. Before Russell, Hawn was married to musician Bill Hudson from 1976 to 1982. They share a daughter, Kate, and a son Oliver. After the couple's divorce, Bill Hudson was reportedly largely absent from the children's lives and Russell was the person who helped raised them alongside Hawn. Both kids even lovingly call their stepfather "pa." Oliver once made his feelings towards his estranged father known when he posted a picture of Bill with Kate and Oliver on Father's Day, captioning it, "Happy abandonment day." Around the same time, Kate put up a black and white photo of herself with Kurt Russell, writing, "Pa, just simply... thank you. Happy Father’s Day. I love you to the moon and back."
Bill claimed that he did his best to remain in his children’s lives for years, but it was Hawn who increasingly pitted them against him. He had some strong words for his children at the time even going on to say that the two kids were “dead” to him and that Hawn “poisoned” them against him. “I say to them now, ‘I set you free,’” he said, reported Yahoo News. “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,” he continued. “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.”
Goldie Hawn & Bill Hudson, 1976. #patchworkweddingstyle https://t.co/qNdlTkRb6Z pic.twitter.com/bsTjP8wVFM
— Patchwork (@Patchworkit) September 19, 2018
Bill admitted that he didn't fight hard enough for custody of his children when they were younger. “I can't keep flogging myself for where I screwed up. I've apologized for 15 years and I’m not apologizing anymore. When you are the custodial parent and you can influence them at a very young age all along. The parent on the outside doesn't have much of a chance. Usually the fathers,” he said, blaming Hawn for their children's feelings about him once again in an interview with Inside Edition. He also said their Father's Day posts "was like somebody put a final dagger in my heart." He added, "If that's what it takes to make them feel better then change your name to Russell! It doesn't mean I love you any less. It doesn't mean I don't want to resolve this but shut up already!”
However, more recently it looks like the family members are trying to work things out. In 2018 Oliver revealed on Larry King Now that he was back in touch with his biological father. "Well, we’re trying right now. We’ve shot some texts back and forth."
"There was an incident that happened via my Instagram,” he explained of the 2015 post. “I had posted something that was darkly comedic and it blew up into something, and actually it helped us with our relationship. So now we’re kind of keeping in touch,” he added. "He did an interview and talked s—,” the actor said of his dad, according to PEOPLE. “He felt hurt by it. I called him and we got on the phone and talked. It was really productive. Then we saw each other, had breakfast and it was the first time I had seen him in 12 years and it was really amazing to see him. We talked it out and we had a really great three-hour conversation.”
References:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kate-oliver-hudsons-biological-father-182500954.html
https://people.com/tv/oliver-hudson-now-keeping-touch-estranged-dad-bill-hudson/
Cover Image Source: (L) Photo by Getty Images | Kevin Winter (R) YouTube | Inside Edition
