Jennifer Hudson's pregnancy confirmed

Grammy and Oscar award winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson is pregnant. It has long been rumored about the 27-year-old star, but a baby shower that took place over the weekend at the home of a relative confirmed the news. A longtime friend of Hudson's, Felicia Fields, said of the weekend get together, "It was a baby shower, a quiet gathering of friends and mostly family." Hudson's manager and publicist had previously denied that the Dream Girls star was pregnant, and her rep has made no comment on the subject.

Hudson is engaged to former reality TV star turned pro-wrestler David Otunga. It has been reported that Hudson is already seven months along, but the gender of the baby is unknown. As for a wedding date, everyone is keeping quiet about that.

Jennifer Hudson's Back! God Bless Her!

In her first performance since her family murder tragedy, Jennifer Hudson sang the National Anthem at Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. We really feel for this poor gal! She did amazing and everyone is talking about it! What a voice! What are your thoughts on her performance? (Watch a YouTube clip of her performance.) Can't get enough of her? Hudson also is slated to sing at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 8 in Los Angeles.

Justice for Jennifer Hudson...FINALLY!

If there's a hell, this guy is rotting in it...

Police arrested the estranged brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson on Monday in the deaths of the entertainer's mother, brother and young nephew, taking him from a prison where he had been held on a suspected parole violation.

William Balfour was arrested at Stateville Correctional Center and released to detectives as he awaited formal charges in the shooting deaths of the singer and Oscar-winning actress' relatives, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.

Until Monday, police had identified Balfour, 27, only as a "person of interest" in the investigation. He had not been charged by Monday evening, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.

The bodies of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were discovered Oct. 24 at the family's home on the South Side of Chicago. The body of 7-year-old Julian King was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the West Side. All three had been shot.

Police took Balfour into custody the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours — the longest Chicago police can hold a person without charges — Balfour was taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections on the suspected parole violation.

Balfour — Julian's stepfather and the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's older sister, Julia Hudson — served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

His mother, Michelle Davis-Balfour of Chicago, told reporters outside a police station Monday night that authorities don't have a case against her son.

"If they found gun powder on his hands, you got a case; if they found a gun on him, he had a case; if they found a fingerprint on the truck that he did this, you got a case; but they don't have nothing," Davis-Balfour said.

Balfour had refused to take a lie-detector test and stopped cooperating with detectives, according to a police official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Police have confirmed they found the gun used in the killings. The .45-caliber gun was discovered Oct. 29 in a vacant lot in the West Side neighborhood where the King's body was found a few days earlier.

Bond declined to discuss any evidence Monday. But after a hearing at the prison, the chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board said a woman had told authorities that a gun used in the slayings was "identical" to the gun that was recovered.

At the time, board Chairman Jorge Montes said the evidence was key to a decision finding probable cause that Balfour violated his parole and should remain locked up pending a Dec. 3 hearing before a review board panel.

Balfour did not have an attorney at the November hearing, and the Cook County public defender's office said at the time that nobody from the office had been assigned because he was not formally charged with a crime.

No one in the public defender's office was assigned to Balfour's case late Monday, and it' was not clear whether he had other representation.

I hereby declare October 30, 2008, to be Nancy Grace Day!

Click on the pic to see Nancy Grace's interview with William Balfour's mother

I've refrained from posting my personal opinion about the Jennifer Hudson tragedy, mostly out of respect for Ms. Hudson (who I met a few times on the red carpet, back when she was with her hometown sweetheart, and she was nothing but a doll) and her deceased nephew (I have two young nephews myself, and if -- Gods forbid -- something happened to either of them, I couldn't be held responsible for what actions I take against the person who showed the supreme idiocy of hurting them), but after witnessing one too many media appearances by this joke of a "mother" -- William Balfour's birth vessel, that is -- and Julia Hudson's constant updating of her MySpace page as though everything was totally normal (woman, YOUR SON WAS KILLED! PLAN HIS FUNERAL, GRIEVE WITH DIGNITY, AND GROW THE F**K UP!), I FINALLY have to comment.

Let me explain something to people across America: you have EVERY right in the world to have your own life. Lord knows I have lashed out against every groupie and gold-digger in America, have called them every name in the English language (and a few in Spanish, Italian, and Sicilian), and think they should all be quarantined by order of the CDC...but at the end of the day, they're all consenting adults, and have every right to do what they want with their bodies. Most of my aggravation with groupies and gold-diggers lies with the fact that the vast majority of them are weak of character, otherwise-talentless except for primal skills that ANYONE can master with the help of a few "instructional" videos, and rife with insecurities, and I detest those type of people with the intensity of a thousand burning suns.

But as many of you who have followed my writings (both here and elsewhere) know equivocally, I reserve special venom for "women" who give birth to innocents and proceed to treat them as though they're little more than a cramp in their style...or, worse, place them in harm's way because of their weakness for "good d**k" (as Julia Hudson had on her MySpace page until recently).

You see, once you become a mother, it stops being all about YOU. It is your job, from the minute that child takes its first breath until the minute you take your last, to make sure that said child is safe from harm. No, you can't hold their hand every minute of every day, and nor can you protect your child from every monster and thing that goes bump in the night, but IT IS YOUR DUTY to ensure that you don't INVITE the boogeyman into the house, either.

Contrary to what a few of my journalist colleagues have unscrupulously mentioned, this attitude is NOT exclusive to the hip-hop (and, in a slimy racial undertone, the African-American) community. Hell, I've been a rock'n'roller since the days of Andrew Wood and Mother Love Bone (how's that for an obscure reference, kids?), and I can cite two VERY obvious examples in the rock'n'roll community about two groupies in particular who I frequently wish all sorts of bodily and psychic harm upon who do this EXACT thing.

(One is a nearly-60-year-old teacher who -- as an erstwhile guitarist once said -- acts worse than her students, who sold her own daughter out to troll MySpace, send harassing e-mails, and almost cost herself her entire career to follow a no-name, no-talent, barely-known bar band around with all the obsession of a New Kids on the Block fan [and, prior to that, she was equally obsessed with Hanson, which I don't know whether to laugh or cry about]. Another groupie, closer to my age, abandoned her child in another state to whore around New York City, do drugs, and sleep with every musician who said "hello" to her while calling herself a "band manager." I would sooner trust my teenage daughter to the care of Dina Lohan than trust my PLANTS -- let alone a band -- to this "manager's" care.)

For Julia Hudson, her weakness for "good d**k" cost her son, her brother, and her mother their lives. She invited William Balfour -- a convicted VIOLENT felon, who served time for attempted murder -- into her home, into her life, around her son. Did she really think that something like this wasn't going to happen? Even in her interviews, she comes across as someone who is more excited about the fact that she's Jennifer Hudson's sister (her plea for Julian's return looked like a poorly-acted B-movie) and getting ancillary attention as a result. I know it's politically correct to feel sorry for her, but the ones we SHOULD be feeling sorry for are the victims of this brutal crime, especially the seven-year-old victim. And when the "mother" of the victim is more concerned about her MySpace profile -- not to mention the fact that the "person of interest" is still on the TOP of her Top Friends list -- and getting "good d**k", who previously said she was a mother "whether she liked it or not," one has to wonder just how much she knew, or knows, about the circumstances surrounding that innocent boy's death.

As for William Balfour's mother, whom Nancy Grace mercilessly skewers in the above interview (though I miss Grace's early days; motherhood seems to have softened her take-no-prisoners approach), well, maybe instead of taking the "there's no way my little angel did this" (ma'am, I hate to tell you this, but he's a convicted violent felon who was raised in a household with OTHER convicted violent felons; his alibi cannot be positively verified; there are no other "persons of interest" in this case. As in the OJ case years ago, I have to wonder...WHO ELSE COULD IT BE, THEN?), she should have taken the responsible parent's approach (I know, tall order) and said, "I know what my child is capable of. The question is, did he do THIS?" Perhaps then I'd be more apt to respect her.

Click to view Nancy Grace in all her glory.

More Tragedy for Jennifer Hudson

Just when you thought this tragedy couldn't get any worse...

Police searching for Jennifer Hudson's missing 7-year-old nephew found the body of a young boy Monday in the same SUV sought in the manhunt for the boy.

Authorities didn't identify the body, that of a young black boy, found in the rear seat of the the SUV and an autopsy was planned for Tuesday.

Illinois State Police said an Amber Alert for the missing boy, Julian King, was canceled Monday because the SUV had been located. And police Cmdr. Wayne Gulliford said the license plate listed in the alert matched the plate on the SUV found Monday.

The alert was issued Friday after the mother and brother of the Oscar-winning actress and singer were found shot to death at home Friday. Julian, who lives in the home, hadn't been seen since.

In Washington, FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole said at a news conference that authorities found a body "who we believe to be the missing victim in Chicago, the nephew of Jennifer Hudson. We are working with Chicago police to get a positive identification of the victim."

Hudson, 27, offered $100,000 Sunday for information leading to his safe return. Julian is the son of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson.

Telephone and e-mail messages left Monday for Hudson's publicist were not unreturned.

The alert listed William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, as a suspect in a "double homicide investigation." He is not the boy's father and has not been charged in the slayings.

Police said they did not have a motive for the killings but called the case "domestic related."

Balfour, 27, was taken into custody Friday by Chicago police for questioning in the killings. On Sunday, he was transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections "based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation."

Records from the Corrections Department show Balfour is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said Balfour would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where Balfour was being held.

It was unclear whether Balfour had an attorney Sunday, but his mother, Michele Balfour, has denied he was involved the killings or in Julian's disappearance.

Hudson, who won an Academy Award in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls," was in Chicago during the weekend. The medical examiner's office confirmed Hudson, 27, identified the bodies of her mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson. The deaths were ruled homicides.

Hudson appealed to the public for help, offering the reward and asking any information be given to Chicago police.

"Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian," said a statement from her publicist.

Tragedy Strikes Jennifer Hudson

The Oscar-winning actress from Dreamgirls and American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were two victims of a fatal shooting in Chicago, the actress's publicist says. Both her family members have died.

"We can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation concerning the deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson," rep Lisa Kasteler tells PEOPLE. "No further comment will be made and the family has asked that their privacy be respected at this difficult time."

The victims' bodies were found by officers Friday in a South Side home listed in the name of Hudson's mother, and police say the shooting appeared to be related to a domestic disturbance.

Hudson's nephew Julian King was kidnapped – the Oscar winner's sister Julia made an impassioned plea for her son's return. "I don't care who you are, just let the baby go," Julia Hudson said in a press conference held at the Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday. "I just want my son. He don't deserve this." The 7 year-old boy is still missing.

Billboard Top Ten Taking Shape

The Billboard album chart is starting to shape up, and is looking like a third straight number one debut from rapper, T.I. Also debuting in the top ten will be Jennifer Hudson, Kellie Pickler, Jack's Mannequin, Robin Thicke, James Taylor, and Ben Folds. Needless to say it will be a huge week for debuts, fourth quater has officially begun!

Jennifer Hudson Engaged

Former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson is engaged to reality tv star David Otunga, aka 'Punk!' The 'I Love New York 2' star Otunga reportedly proposed to Hudson by presenting her with a Neil Lane diamond ring on her 27th birthday.

“I can confirm that Jennifer got engaged to her boyfriend David on Friday night in L.A.” her rep tells People. David is a 2006 graduate of Harvard Law.

The couple have been dating for less than a year. Hmmmm. Red flag. Well, congrats to them both!
Jennifer's new album comes out on September 30th.