Singer opens up on personal tragedy, says she’s turned it into something positive

Sep 12, 2012 07:14 GMT  ·  By
Jennifer Hudson and sister Julia talk personal tragedy with Oprah on her Next Chapter
   Jennifer Hudson and sister Julia talk personal tragedy with Oprah on her Next Chapter

In 2008, Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and nephew were gunned down and killed by her estranged brother-in-law. On Oprah’s Next Chapter, the singer and actress has revealed that she is finally ready to move on.

Video of a segment of the interview is below.

Speaking of William Balfour’s heinous crimes, for which he was found guilty in May and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences, Jennifer says that he was not immediately responsible for them.

Given his background and his education, he had no chance because he knew no other way to act out on his frustrations. Once married to Jennifer’s sister Julia, Balfour promised his estranged wife she would live the day to be sorry for pushing him away.

“For the most part, it's not his fault. It's what he was taught, how he was brought up,” Jennifer says in the emotional interview.

He “never had a chance,” she believes because he never knew any better.

“Had you had the love my mother gave us, or the background that, you know, some have, then you would've stood a chance,” the singer explains.

Jennifer also explains what the official Hatch Day in Chicago is and how she came up with the idea for it because it was something Julian, her late nephew, loved so much: it coincides with his birthday and is now an opportunity to give back to the community.

After so many years of heartbreak, Jennifer is now ready to visit the graves of her mother, brother and nephew, something she didn’t do all this time because she could not face the reality of it.

“Now I want to go because I feel like, OK, we've accomplished this, we've done this, we got justice for you. I can't come back here empty-handed. So I came back with justice being served. So now I feel like I deserve to be able to see them,” she tells Oprah.

Check out the video below to hear Jennifer explain how she’s been dealing with the pain and how she managed to turn this horrible experience into something positive and truly admirable.