She has achieved monumental success since her days as a contestant on American Idol in 2004, when an unimpressed Simon Cowell informed her: ‘You’re out of your depth in this competition.’ And Jennifer Hudson proved the music mogul wrong yet again, as she cut a powerful figure for a stunning shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine – where she proved fearless in talking about her experiences with prejudice and race.
The Oscar-winning star, 36, confessed that despite ‘defying all the odds by being African-American, living in a wealthy neighborhood and being a working mum’, her success is still ‘foreign to people’ and has led to a number of cases of ‘ignorance.’ Jennifer told the fashion bible: ‘There have been several situations where I get on a plane and the air steward assumes that I’m meant to be in the back of the plane. ‘That happens a lot. I’m like “No, my seat is up there in first class, thank you.”‘
The Voice star, who is a judge on both the UK and US versions, relayed further examples of prejudgement over her race. ‘People also assume that my home belongs to my white driver, Charles.
