Jennifer Hudson Sings at DNC, But Trump Took in Her Family Following Mother and Brother’s 2008 Murder

Jennifer Hudson sang at the Trump-bashing Democrat National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday. But it was Donald Trump who took in the Grammy-winning singer’s family following the brutal 2008 murder of her mother and brother in Chicago.

According to E! Online, Hudson had checked into the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago the day her mother Darnell Donerson, and brother Jason Hudson were fatally shot in Donerson’s home. The singer’s nephew Julian King was also reported missing.

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Jennifer Hudson closes out Wednesday night’s #DemConvention. pic.twitter.com/rMGt4PAC2O

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 20, 2020

Trump had reacted to the tragic news of Hudson’s family by offering up a hotel suite for Hudson and her family to stay in free while they mourned. “Hudson and some of her family members have been staying at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, and Trump has been picking up the tab,” reported Today in 2008.

“She’s a great girl, and we’re protecting them well,” Trump told People. “They are very safe.”

Jennifer Hudson reportedly “rarely left” the hotel. “She is still in shock,” a source told E! “She hasn’t gone out much at all and has a lot of security around her.”

No good deed, however, appears to go unpunished. On Wednesday night, Hudson closed out the third day of the DNC by singing her own rendition of Sam Cooke’s 1964 single “A Change Is Gonna Come” at the Chicago Cultural Central.

As president, Donald Trump has launched a massive anti-crime initiative called Operation Legend, which is active in nine U.S. cities (including Chicago) and has resulted in the arrest of 1,485 suspects.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.