Oliver Hudson says understanding "true forgiveness" helped heal his rift with his biological father after years of estrangement.
The Scream Queens star hit headlines in 2015, when he marked Father's Day with an old photo of himself and his actress sister Kate Hudson as kids, posing for the camera with their dad, Bill Hudson, who filed for divorce from the siblings' mum Goldie Hawn in 1980. He captioned the Instagram shot, "Happy abandonment day", Bill publicly disowned Oliver and Kate for the "vicious" social media post, and urged his famous offspring, who were raised by Goldie and her long-time partner, Kurt Russell, to drop his last name.
Oliver and Bill began talking again in 2018, and Oliver insists the fall out couldn't have gone any better as they have resolved their issues.
"My dad and I have a relationship now for the first time in a long time, and it was spurned on by my dark, sort of insane sense of humour," he shared on The Drew Barrymore Show. "I'd Instagrammed (sic) and said, 'Happy abandonment day...' I was just trying to be funny! It blew up, long story short, it brought us together because it created a dialogue.
"So, I've done a lot of work on myself. I went to this place called The Hoffman Institute, where I learned... true forgiveness, true compassion, and what that really means. I went and looked into his life a little bit more and understood where he was coming from.
"So there's been a catharsis that I have had. We have a really great relationship now. It's just interesting how life plays out and how things work."
Host and fellow actor Drew Barrymore is no stranger to family estrangements of her own, following her notoriously troubled childhood. During their chat, Drew revealed she has also made amends with her mother, Jaid Barrymore, after years of not speaking.
Sympathising with Oliver's family history, she said, "My mum was the same, her family was not there (for her), and she was estranged and then we repeated that pattern. I think that due to my own experiences and my mum's experience, I was like, 'I have to get this different (with my kids). It's not right or wrong, but I'm gonna have a determination about this,' that may have not been there otherwise, and I'm so grateful for it.
"And my mum and I are good now, too. It's like, there's just some peace and respect and maturity there, that could not have taken place maybe before. Timing is everything..."
