Oliver Hudson says comments about childhood ‘trauma’ with mother Goldie Hawn were ‘taken out of context’

Oliver Hudson has said his viral comments about his childhood and mother Goldie Hawn were “taken out of context”.

The 47-year-old actor – who is the son of Hawn and her ex, Bill Hudson – spoke candidly about his family during Monday’s episode of his and his sister Kate Hudson’s podcast, Sibling Revelry. His remarks came after he made headlines for a previous episode of his podcast, where he discussed some of his trauma throughout his childhood and looked back on the relationship he had with his mother when he was growing up.

During the episode of his podcast, which aired on 1 April, Kate praised her brother for “saying a really interesting thing” about himself in the now-viral episode about his childhood. After Oliver agreed with the statement, he criticised the way his comments were perceived, and clarified what the discussion on childhood trauma was about.

“I’m even afraid to talk about it, to explain this even more, because everything is taken so far out of context,” he explained to Kate. “If you listen to the whole thing, it’s more about sort of my child feelings in that moment, rather than me and how I feel about Mom as a parent.”

He went on to praise his mother, noting that he “couldn’t even fathom” who he would be without her.

“The love that I have for her and the respect and the reverence that I have for her is beyond anything. So, it was just completely taken out of context. It was used for clickbait, it just is what it is,” he continued.

While Oliver encouraged listeners to avoid the tabloids, he said he still understood how a certain word in his comments was attention grabbing.

“You say that word and immediately it inflames everything,” he said. “There was no trauma coming from my mother, the way she raised me, in any way whatsoever. You’re speaking from a five, six-year old perspective, that’s what I was doing. Without her, again, I’d be nothing.”

He then joked that he wouldn’t be so open about his life going forward, concluding: “In retrospect, I’m just gonna shut the f*** up from now on. I’m not, I’m not really. I can’t help it.”

Kate also quipped about her brother’s comments making headlines, noting that she was expecting that to happen.

“I start seeing all the clips and I’m like: ‘Oh god, Oliver, this is going to be a headline,’” she said, referring to her brother’s viral podcast episode with Bode Miller. “I knew it immediately. You used such clickbait words, and I’m like: ‘I can’t leave my brother alone for a second.’”

She also admitted that she’s never surprised when her family is in the news, adding: “We know if we’re going to talk about our parents, everyone’s going to talk.”

During a previous episode of his podcast, aired on 18 March, Oliver discussed a course he’d done with the Hoffman Institute, which was about “unpacking the patterns that were put upon you from your parents and stepparents”.

He then revealed that the course wasn’t much about his father, but more about his mother – who’s been dating actor Kurt Russell since 1983. Oliver expressed that it was “interesting” for his mother to be “the one that [he] had almost the most trauma” with, since he was with her “all the time” throughout his childhood and she was his “primary caregiver”.

“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.”

Oliver then opened up about his difficult relationship with his father, 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.”