While fans are familiar with one half of Oliver and Kate Hudson’s famous family, the other half is lesser known.
The siblings are the eldest two children of actor and musician Bill Hudson. Bill welcomed the pair with his ex-wife Goldie Hawn, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1982. He later tied the knot with Cindy Williams in 1982, and the two welcomed kids Emily and Zachary before calling it quits in 2000. Bill shares his youngest, daughter Lalania, with ex-girlfriend Caroline Graham.
During a February 2024 episode of their “Sibling Revelry” podcast, Kate and Oliver revealed that they had discovered they had a half-brother named Paul, whom Bill welcomed at age 16 and put up for adoption. “And on 23andMe, there’s potentially another one. That we’re trying to figure out,” Oliver added at the time.
Kate and Oliver’s relationship with Bill has been strained over the years, with Bill publicly disowning them in 2015 after Oliver shared a childhood photo of him and Kate with Bill for Father’s Day, captioned, “Happy abandonment day.”
Bill told the Daily Mail, “That was like a dagger to the heart.”
He continued: “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. I don’t.”
Scroll down to get to know more about the Hudson family:
Bill Hudson
Born in 1949, Bill is a musician well-known for being a vocalist in he and his brothers’ band, The Hudson Brothers. He also dipped his toes into acting, starring in films such as Zero to Sixty and Big Shots and appearing on shows such as The Love Boat and Doogie Howser, M.D.
In 2015, Bill told the Daily Mail that despite being a parent to five kids (not including Paul), he considered himself “a father of three” following Oliver’s harsh Father’s Day post. “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,” he stated. “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.”
Kate and Oliver previously accused their father of being distant and abandoning them as kids, leaving them to be raised primarily by their mother.
After Bill’s Daily Mail interview, a source told Us Weekly that Kate and Oliver were “not surprised” by his comments, adding, “It’s been this way, and he’s been saying this stuff forever.”
Paul
Paul was born when Bill was 16, making him the musician’s eldest biological child. Little information about him is known, including his mother’s identity and his last name.
Kate and Oliver shared some details about their adopted half-brother during an April 2024 episode of their podcast, sharing that they had first learned of him eight years prior.
“One of the things Paul said was he had a great childhood and has a really full, happy life and never felt like he had to reach out and find out who his birth parents were,” Kate explained. “It was really his wife who was like, ‘I want to know what your history is. I want to know for our kids, for you.’ And so, he basically left it up to her. He’s like, ‘If you want to find this out, go ahead.’”
Noting that they hadn’t “gotten to know him very well,” Oliver noted that Paul “looks like a Hudson.”
“He loves to fish. I’m a big fisherman,” Oliver stated, to which Kate followed-up by adding, “And his kids are very creative and athletic. I mean, it definitely fits into the whole Hudson vibe.”
Oliver Hudson
Bill and Hawn welcomed their eldest child in 1976. Much like his parents, Oliver caught the acting bug and has built an impressive Hollywood career with roles in projects such as My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, Dawson’s Creek, Rules of Engagement, Nashville, Scream Queens, Splitting Up Together and The Cleaning Lady.
He and his wife, Erinn Bartlett, wed in 2006 and went on to welcome their kids Wilder, Bodhi and Rio in 2007, 2010 and 2013, respectively.
Amid their estrangement from Bill, Oliver and Kate have formed a close bond with Hawn’s longtime partner, Kurt Russell. In June 2021, Oliver gave both his father figures a shout-out in a Father’s Day Instagram post.
“It doesn’t really matter which one of these men is my father. My Pa stepped in when I was 6 and made the man I am today … My Dad is half of me and as I get to know him I realize how alike we actually are … and there’s a very good chance Warren Beatty is my actually father,” he jokingly captioned photos of all three men. “HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!”
Kate Hudson
Bill and Hawn welcomed Kate in 1979. She racked up several nominations and awards wins for her role as Penny Lane in 2000’s Almost Famous and has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s biggest actresses. Some of her most notable credits to date include How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Raising Helen, Bride Wars, Something Borrowed, Truth Be Told and Glass Onion.
Kate is a mother of three, sharing son Ryder with her ex-husband Chris Robinson, son Bingham with her ex-fiancé, Matt Bellamy, and daughter Rani with her fiancé, Danny Fujikawa. Fujikawa popped the question to Hudson in 2021 after nearly five years of dating.
In 2016, Kate opened up about feeling “abandoned” by Bill as a child, revealing that she and Oliver have since been able to look back at their formative years through a humorous lens. “We can laugh at the challenges that we faced because of it — together,” she said during a radio interview with Jenny McCarthy.
At the time, Kate also clarified she harbored no ill will towards her father. “Life is funny. I just feel so lucky. I feel like it was a blessing,” she stated. “No matter what he goes through, I’m all forgiveness.”
Prior to releasing her May 2024 debut album, Glorious, Kate admitted that didn’t pursue music earlier in her career because of Bill’s musical background. “Later on, I kind of rejected it … as you do when you’re dealing with daddy issues,” she shared on a February 2023 episode of the “Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi” podcast. “I don’t want to connect to that part because that’s my dad. That’s all dad.”
She added: “If that one connection that I had to him, I failed miserably at, would be devastating to me. I wasn’t ready for that.”
Emily Hudson
Bill welcomed his first child with Williams in 1982. Unlike Kate and Oliver, Emily seemingly chose a life out of the spotlight. However, she did appear alongside her mother on a handful of red carpets prior to Williams’ death at age 75 in January 2023.
In January 2024, Kate revealed that she had reconnected with one of her sisters, though she didn’t specify which one. “I had this moment last year where I was like, ‘I don’t know why I don’t talk to my other siblings,’” she said on her and Oliver’s podcast, “I don’t care what the history is with our parents … I have two sisters that I don’t speak to for no other reason than our family is separated.”
Noting that she, Emily, Zachary and Lalania has “all just started communicating again,” Kate added: “I got on the phone with my sister and we just started bawling our eyes out. It was great. [My sister] even said it. We start now. We start now.”
Zachary Hudson
Williams gave birth to her and Bill’s second child in 1986. Much like Emily, little is known about Zachary, though he also appeared on some red carpets with his sister and mother.
Lalania Hudson
Born in 2006, Bill shares his youngest child with Graham. According to her website, she studied acting at the Young Actors Space in Los Angeles and is currently pursuing a career in acting and modeling. She also has skills in equestrian training, archery, dancing and photography.
