Bill Hudson Disowned Kate Who Is 'Dead' to Him Yet Took Care of Other Kids - His Late Wife Tried to Reconcile the Family

• American musician and actor Bill Hudson is the father of Kate and Oliver Hudson, whom he shares with his ex-wife Goldie Hawn. However, Kate and Oliver have a strained and estranged relationship with Bill after he "left" them to start a new family with his late wife, Cindy Williams.
• As a result, Goldie Hawn's partner, Kurt Russell, stepped up to become a stepfather to Kate and Oliver Hudson.
• Bill is furious with his oldest children and has stated that the siblings are "dead" to him in a recent interview. The father also has requested that the brother and sister stop speaking about him and change their last name.
• The late Cindy Williams had tried to reconcile the two families but was unsuccessful.

Bill Hudson and Goldie Hawn met at the pinnacle of their careers in 1975. The musician and iconic actress found each other while traveling from New York to Los Angeles on a first-class flight, and it was love at first sight.

Bill had already established a reputation in the music industry, being one of three in The Hudson Brothers group. He and his brothers performed alongside The Beach Boys, The Osmonds, and The Monkees. The artist is also an actor and has featured in several films and Tv shows, most notably "Hysterical."

According to Bill, the chemistry between him and Hawn was instantaneous when they first saw each other. The pair were instantly captivated by one another, in the words of Bill:

"The attraction was instant. I invited her out to dinner that night, and that was it. The [intimacy] was mind-blowing. Even when everything else in the relationship turned sour, the [intimacy] was always amazing."

In 1976, the couple married when Hawn was pregnant with their first child, Oliver Hudson. Oliver was diagnosed with meconium aspiration when he was born at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in L.A. This life-threatening syndrome occurs because a newborn accidentally inhales amniotic fluid that has been contaminated.

The newborn had to be isolated for three days following his birth. Hawn and Bill were distraught by the news, and the "Hysterical" actor described how stressful the whole ordeal was:

"Goldie and I were beside ourselves. She was really sick, and I'd go from her bedside to the neonatal intensive care unit. The doctors didn't think Oliver would make it. But Oliver pulled through, and from that moment, he was our precious miracle."

Kate's arrival happened three years after her brother was born in 1979. Bill adored and loved both his children immensely, and for a couple of years, the family of four remained happy being surrounded by a bubble of "deep love."

Bill and Hawn's marriage ended in 1981, soon after he learned about Hawn's extramarital affairs. The Hudson Brothers musician expressed his want for a traditional marriage that didn't align with Hawn's interests:

"Goldie was having affairs [and] she told me pretty much on our wedding night she wanted an open marriage, that she couldn't imagine being faithful to one man for the rest of her life. I wanted a traditional marriage, but Goldie couldn't settle. Eventually, I moved out."

Following the split from Bill, Hawn dated actor Kurt Russell in 1983. The pair had initially met in 1968 while shooting "The Only One, Genuine, Original Family Band." Russell had previously been married to "Vice Squad's" Season Hubley and had a son in 1980 before the couple divorced in 1983.

As soon as Hawn and Russell reconnected on the set of "Swing Shift," sparks flew. Their son Wyatt Russell was born three years after they became an exclusive item. When speaking on their process of blending their families, Kate recalled her initial feelings as a child:

"For me, it felt like such a big moment because it was like, 'My mom is madly in love with this guy.' For me, at the time, it was like, 'Is this going to be my dad?' And I was meeting his son [Boston], which meant, 'Does this mean that this is my brother?' It was a lot to handle at such a young age."

After Bill and Hawn split, Bill got into a long-term relationship with "Love Story" talent Ali McGraw before marrying his second wife, Cindy Williams. The pair had two kids together - Emily and Zachary Hudson before divorcing in 2000.

Soon after their parents' divorce, Kate and Oliver recalled being abandoned by their father at a young age. According to the siblings, Bill had gradually started to "check out" from their family. Oliver remembers his father being absent as early as six years old when responding to comments on his controversial Father's Day post dedicated to Russell:

"It doesn't really matter which one of these men is my father. My pa stepped in when I was six and made me the man I am today."

Like her brother, Kate recollects vague memories and moments when her father was there for her. The "Fools Gold" star told Howard Stern in an interview how her father started "teetering" out of their lives at a very young age:

"He was around when we were like young, and he sort of teetered out, you know? It was like that kind of thing. My mom never spoke poorly of him, and I was a real tough little girl. I did understand that it didn't have to do with me and Oliver; we did understand that."

Kate later went on to say that she "forgives" her father and understands what a "tough" time he must have gone through. The "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" actress praised her bonus dad, Russell, for stepping up as a great father figure.

Kate and Oliver have expressed their close ties and bond with "The Thing" actor Russell. In separate tributes, the siblings thanked the actor for devoting his time to being a father to them while their biological father went on to build a new family with his late wife, Williams.

The "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" star has even detailed how her strained relationship with her biological father, Bill, prevented her from pursuing a music career. Kate admitted that she held back from releasing music early on in her career for fear of messing up a craft that her dad was so well-known for:

"Earlier on in my career, I thought I would definitely do music, but then "Almost Famous" happened. But later on, I kind of rejected it because I was like, 'You know what?' As you do when you're dealing with daddy issues. If that one connection that I had to him, I failed miserably at, would be devastating to me, I wasn't ready for that."

When Bill and Williams married and had children, Williams was a strong advocate for helping him see and spend time with his children. Williams would always try and organize family activities together. In a sit-down interview with People Magazine in 1985, Williams talked about a specific time the couple went to fetch Kate and Oliver:

"The last time we went to get the kids, Goldie and Kurt were gone. When we left with Oliver and Kate, Wyatt, whom we all love, wanted to come with us. But we had to leave him behind with his nanny. Everyone felt terrible."

Adjusting to becoming a stepmother to Kate and Oliver came with challenges when coordinating visitations. However, when it came to Williams's love for the two children, she loved them as though they were hers, as Hawn attests.

A Special Father's Day Tribute Gone Wrong

By the time Father's Day commenced, after Bill had enjoyed a pleasant walk on the beach with his nine-year-old daughter (the youngest of his total of five children), sitting down at his table for dinner, Bill opened up his laptop to see that his son, Oliver, posted a less than loving tribute to him. The picture was as clear as day - Oliver, Kate, and Bill posing happily in a throwback picture with a caption that read:

To say the father of five was shocked and hurt is an understatement. Bill was seething as he looked at the controversial post made by Oliver, which has since gone viral. Bill directly addressed his son's targeted post in an unfiltered interview with Daily Mail:

"Oliver could have picked up the phone and called me, but he hasn't. What shocks me is that this was clearly premeditated; he chose the photograph and posted it on Father's Day when he knew it would cause maximum pain. Oliver has lived in the shadow of his mother and sister all his life [and] maybe he wanted to be in the headlines."

An outraged Bill ended that statement by confirming that if Oliver's goal was to cut their biological dad out of their lives, he succeeded. Bill emphatically stated that he does not want to see or speak to his oldest children again.

To make matters worse, fuel was added to the raging fire when Kate followed her brother's lead and posted her own sweet tribute to Russell. The A-list actress endearingly refers to Russell as "Pa" and thanks him for all he has done for her and her brother.

The relationship between Bill and his two oldest children, Kate and Oliver, may still be somewhat strained. However, there appears to be hope for a better relationship with time.

This other post was essentially the "last straw to break the camel's back." An already wounded Bill had the following to say to his daughter:

"She wants to be Kurt's daughter? Well then, take his name, [and] stop using mine. I say to them now, "I set you free," I had five birth children, but I now consider myself a father of three. I no longer recognize Oliver and Kate as my own."

According to Bill, his children may feel this way due to being "poisoned" by their mother, Hawn. Bill has stated that Hawn manipulated Kate and Oliver as children to make them think that their father had moved to Portland and abandoned them. Bill confirms he went to Portland but has explained that he only went for a couple of months to record his album but returned to L.A. when he finished his project.

When Kate appeared on Howard Stern's show for an interview, she talked about how Russell was the father who was there during the difficult and challenging times. To this, Bill stated with conviction:

"I would ask them to stop using the Hudson name [because] they are no longer a part of my life. Oliver's Instagram post was a malicious, vicious, premeditated attack; he is dead to me now, as is Kate. I am mourning their loss even though they are still walking this earth."

The father of Hawn's two children has decided to remove all childhood memorabilia of Kate and Oliver from his home. Pictures of the two children have been taken down from the walls, and "knitted baby booties" the singer said he would carry around with him for "good luck" have been thrown away.

Bill has stated that his request for Kate and Oliver to change their last name is not because he does not "love them any less." However, he has stated that should they feel that he has not been a father to them, it is only fitting that they just "shut up already" and change their surname to the one they claim to be a "real" father. When speaking about his daughter, Kate, Bill has claimed that she has sided with her mother and has perpetuated the narrative of him not being around:

"Kate is her mother's child. She has a harshness about her. She has aligned herself with her mother and perpetuated this story about me abandoning the family. That simply isn't true, I fought legally, and I physically turned up to see them."

Kate and Oliver Forgive Their Biological Father, Bill

The relationship between Bill and his two oldest children, Kate and Oliver, may still be somewhat strained. However, there appears to be hope for a better relationship with time. In several interviews, Kate has made it clear that although her father's actions hurt her, she has chosen to "forgive" him.

Even Oliver has expressed the same sentiment. In an interview with Larry King, "The Rules of Engagement" actor told the host that he had been in touch with his father after the controversial post had been published. Oliver confirmed that the two had a productive and positive exchange:

"He did an interview and talked s-. He felt hurt by it [and] I called him, and we got on the phone and talked; it was really productive. Then we saw each other, [we] had breakfast, and it was the first time I had seen him in 12 years, and it was really amazing to see him. We talked it out, and we had a really great three-hour conversation."

In keeping with the spirit of healing old wounds, Kate expressed how she would like to get in contact with her half-siblings - the other three children in the Hudson clique. During a podcast recording of Kate and Oliver's Sibling Rivalry show, Kate pondered over their distant connection with their other siblings:

"We've been talking so much about sibling relationships and distraught relationships, and we're sitting here like, we've got the best family, we're so great, and yet we don't ever acknowledge the fact that we have four other siblings. So I've been thinking a lot about the Hudsons. Thinking that it's important that we reach out with all of our siblings and maybe connect with them a little bit."

Though Bill has not been a part of his grandchildren's lives, Kate and Oliver ensure that their kids make the best of their time with their bonus grandfather, Russell. It was revealed by an insider that:

"Kurt has always been close to Kate and seen her as his own daughter, so he couldn't be prouder as he watches her embrace motherhood. He loves nothing more than taking the kids for a weekend if Kate is working or traveling, and he'll play video games with the boys and let them eat a lot of chocolate. The same goes for [his son Oliver's] children!"

Russell has been grandpa goals with both Kate and Oliver's children. He continues to devote significant amounts of time to their kids and does his best to fill the would-be empty void of them not having their biological grandfather in their lives. Though their relationship with Bill is still distant, Kate and Oliver are learning to make the best of their past and move forward positively.