Jennifer Hudson Reveals Why She Really Threw Her Shoe At A Contestant On ‘The Voice’
Jennifer Hudson is opening up about a controversial move she made during her first season as a coach on NBC’s The Voice.
The singer, who joined the show this year after previously winning The Voice U.K., recently spoke out about throwing her shoe at a contestant during the blind audition rounds of Season 25 and revealed what caused her to seemingly get pretty aggressive after hearing a talented hopeful sing.
Jennifer, who’s sitting alongside Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Miley Cyrus on new episodes, opened up about her decision to launch her footwear on stage during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on September 28, where she revealed that her shoe throwing antics were actually supposed to be a compliment.
“It is a compliment, at JHUD productions it’s a compliment,” Jennifer responded when asked by late-night host Seth Meyers why she decided it would be a good idea to take off her pump and hurl it on stage at the singer as they auditioned.
Hudson even went on to claim that anyone who has one of her shoes thrown in their direction should actually feel pretty honored.
“If you move me enough that I remove my shoe to throw it at you, you have done something just amazing,” Jennifer claimed, calling it the “equivalent to a standing ovation” in her world.
Following her appearance on the late night show this week, Hudson revealed on Instagram that her fans have actually now started hurling their own shoes at her during her performances.
The former American Idol contestant told fans on September 29 that a concertgoer at her show in Boston actually took off their shoe and threw it at her while she was singing.
“I told my crew, I said, ‘Lord people [are] going to start throwing shoes at me after [The Voice]’ and, y’all, that’s just what happened tonight!” she said, telling her followers that she “got my first shoe thrown at me” during her Boston concert.
“I could barely finish my song after this guy got done,” Hudson continued but joked that she actually “loved” the fact that her fans were now following her lead.
Fellow coach Adam Levine previously confirmed that Jennifer threw her shoe at a contestant during the blind audition stages of The Voice Season 25 earlier this year.
While Jennifer claimed in the new interview that throwing her shoe is a sign that she’s happy, Levine alleged earlier this year that it was actually her way of showing both her frustration and excitement.
“She wasn’t getting people, and I think she finally just got so mad, she had enough, and she started throwing her shoe,” the Maroon 5 singer told Entertainment Tonight of Jennifer.
“The first couple days went by, and I think she started getting mad,” he continued, claiming that Hudson was struggling to get people on her team during her first few days on The Voice.
Adam even teased that he too started throwing his shoes at contestants after seeing Hudson’s antics during her big The Voice debut.
“I started throwing my shoes, and other things,” Adam joked.
Jennifer’s recent confessions about her shoe throwing come amid some mixed reactions over her debut appearance on the show. The Season 25 premiere of the NBC series had the lowest viewing figures of any premiere episode of the talent search since it debuted back in 2011.
The Voice Season 25 airs on Monday and Tuesday nights on NBC.
[Featured Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.]
