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Why Jennifer Hudson Throws Her Shoes at Good Singers
If the EGOT winner ever hurls footwear at you, then congratulations: You've just received a major compliment.
Throwing a shoe at another person seems like an insult, but for Jennifer Hudson, it's one of the highest compliments possible.
During her time as a Coach on Season 13 of NBC's The Voice, Hudson famously hurled footwear at Artists that blew her away. Now, she's offering her expertise (with shoes and all) in Season 26 as a Mega Mentor for Coaches Michael Bublé and Reba McEntire.
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"[Throwing shoes is] like a standing ovation," the EGOT winner explained to Bublé in between helping Artists Jeremy Beolate, Kira Vega, and Sofronio Vasquez. "And now, people throw shoes at me [while I perform onstage] ... but it's a compliment!"
Why Jennifer Hudson says throwing shoes at a good singer is a major compliment
In a 2023 episode of her eponymous daytime talk show, Hudson explained when she first encountered this phenomenon. It was during one of her earliest auditions for a touring gig with Barry Manilow. "When I finished singing, all the Judges threw stuff at me off the table," she said, going on to add that while she didn't get the job, she did discover a new way to express herself.
"Their notepads went flying, their pens went flying ... When I was on The Voice, I couldn't help myself. When you get the singing and it sounds so good, before I knew it, that shoe went flying across the room. It's my expression. So what I'm saying is, if you catch a shoe here at the happy place, it is my compliment to you. It's like a standing ovation," she said.
"If you move me enough that I remove my shoe to throw it at you, you have done something amazing," she emphasized in a 2017 interview with Seth Meyers back when she was a Coach on The Voice. "So when somebody's singing for me, [they] might catch a shoe and if I could get this boot off right now..."
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When asked if she wears easily removable shoes ahead of performances that might prompt a complimentary toss, Hudson said, "I don't because music is so moving and powerful to me, that it literally dictates my every emotion. I don't even know I threw my shoe at you. And if you're close enough you might get hit, but it's a compliment. I am out of body [when it happens]. Like the time when I threatened Blake [Shelton] and Adam [Levine] on [The Voice] and I told them, 'Don't you turn around,' it was like an out of body experience. Like, 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you, I didn't mean to threaten you, I didn't mean to throw a shoe.' It's just how the song moves me. Music moves me in a unique, special way, but it's all out of passion and love."
