Jennifer Hudson takes basketball to the face while sitting courtside at the Knicks
Jennifer Hudson’s date night at the New York Knicks game took a painful turn when an errant basketball hit her hard in the face.
On Tuesday, Hudson and her boyfriend, rapper Common (real name Lonnie Rashid Lynn), were spotted in Madison Square Garden for the Knicks’ game against the Golden State Warriors. While the famous couple sat courtside, they were unintentionally involved in the action of the match.
Cameras at the event captured a basketball thrown in the direction of the singer, with a sports commentator saying, “Protect Jennifer Hudson!” A second commentator interjected, “Oh no, not the glasses,” after the ball appeared to bounce off her head, knocking off the star’s glasses.
A slow-motion replay of the incident showed Common attempting to intercept the ball as the Knicks’ Miles McBride chased after it.
McBride then ran into Hudson on the sideline but stopped to make sure she was ok before rejoining the game as Common continued to keep his arms around her.
“Common is making sure everybody’s OK,” the first commentator said during the replay, before the other quipped: “Let me see what Common did. Did he protect her? No, no he didn’t.” However, his co-host pointed out that Common still “tried.”
Hudson looked visibly stunned and in pain as she rubbed her head and removed her glasses from her face after the incident.
“Common played a basketball player in a movie so it looks bad that he couldn’t even catch the ball,” one commenter joked on X, referring to the actor’s role in the 2010 rom-com Just Wright.
Throughout their relationship, Common and Hudson have had many date nights at basketball games. In January 2024, they attended a game between the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors at the Crypto.com Arena. Months later, they were seen courtside at an NBA playoff game between the Knicks and Indiana Pacers in New York City.
While they first sparked dating rumors in 2022, they confirmed their relationship in January 2024. When Common made an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, he gushed to the host about his girlfriend without naming her.
“I’m in a relationship that is one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met in life. She’s smart, she loves God, she has something real down to earth about her. She’s talented. I set my standard kind of high because she has to have an EGOT,” he said. “She had to get her own talk show.”
During an interview with the New York Post in October, Hudson praised the love she’s found with Common and the connection they have.
“It is very beautiful — it really is,” she said. It hit different. There’s nothing like it, that’s for sure.”
