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Oliver Hudson has shared why he and his sister Kate Hudson turned down Kurt Russell’s offer to adopt them.
During a recent episode of his and Kate’s podcast, Sibling Revelry, the 48-year-old actor opened up about being raised by his mother Goldie Hawn’s longtime partner, Russell. Oliver also acknowledged that when he was a child, he didn’t have a close relationship with his and his sister’s father, Bill Hudson.
“My dad, he was around for a little bit, then he bailed. We have a good relationship now, but it took a long, long, long, long time, but we’re there,” he explained on the podcast. “Kurt came into my life when I was five or six and essentially, he raised me. I’m the man I am today because of him, right?”
“There was a moment when he asked us, myself and Kate, if we wanted to be adopted, and we said no,” he added.
He explained that while he was “very aware” that Russell was a big part of his childhood and who he was, he didn’t need the legal adoption to show they had a close relationship.
“I don’t remember the age, but we just said, ‘Well, we don’t need it. The love is right there,” he explained.
He also acknowledged that he didn’t want to “replace” his biological father. “The love was there with Kurt, there’s no doubt. He’s my dad. I call him Pa,” Oliver added. “But there was always, not something missing, but there’s that other side.”
Oliver and Kate’s mother has been dating Russell since 1983. Three years later, the couple welcomed their only child together, Wyatt, 38. Russell also has an adult son, Boston, 44, who he shares with his ex-wife, Season Hubley.
The Rules of Engagement star has previously opened up about his bond with his parents. During an episode of his podcast in April, Oliver talked about a course he did with the Hoffman Institute, where he learned about his relationship with his mother. He expressed that it was “interesting” for his mother to be “the one that [he] had almost the most trauma” with, according to this class, since she was the one who took care of him when he was a child.
“I felt unprotected at times. She would be working. She had new boyfriends that I didn’t really like. She would be living her life and she was an amazing mother,” he explained. “This is my own perception as a child who didn’t have a dad and needed her to be there and she just wasn’t there sometimes, and she came out far more than even my dad who wasn’t there.”
He then opened up about his difficult relationship with his father Bill, noting that the “forgiveness” he felt toward Bill was “huge”, since the musician “essentially bailed” on him and Kate.
“When I was with him, it was incredible,” Oliver said. “He paid attention to me. We played football. We played basketball. We were on the beach. He taught me how to fish. He was so present, but he just was never there.”
During an interview with Us Weekly in May, Bill also shared where he stands with Kate and Oliver, noting he’s working on bettering his relationship with them.
“There’s no pressure. We’re just letting it be what it will be. Because no one is pushing it, there’s no turmoil or issues,” he said. “A lot went down, and we aren’t revisiting it. No one wants to rehash the past. You can’t move forward if all you’re doing is analyzing the past. We’re in the present.”
