Jennifer Hudson’s latest Grammy nomination arrived on a day of deep personal significance.

The 44-year-old singer and actress received her ninth career nomination on Friday for The Gift of Love, her first holiday record and first entry in the pop album category. 

The album was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the upcoming 68th Annual Grammy Awards.

Speaking in the press room at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on November 8, Hudson reflected on the timing of the honour.

“I’m still living a dream, it’s blessed me,” she said. “I’m a holiday fanatic, so to be able to be acknowledged in that way with the album that is so dear to my heart is beyond a dream. And it was on my late mother’s birthday as well, which made it even more special.”

Describing The Gift of Love as “a project that was done with heart,” Hudson said the record, released in October 2024, represents her return to the studio after a decade-long break.

At Saturday’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Hudson also performed as part of the tribute lineup. “It’s always an honour to be here, to sing and to pay tribute to all the greats and the legends,” she said. “My life is like a whole dream to be able to do that.”

The singer has won two Grammy Awards over her career. In 2009, she earned Best R&B Album for her self-titled debut. Eight years later, she shared the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album with the original Broadway revival cast of The Color Purple, in which she starred as Shug Avery.

Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, was killed in October 2008 along with Hudson’s brother Jason and her 7-year-old nephew Julian. The gunman, Hudson’s former brother-in-law William Balfour, is serving a life sentence for the murders.

Kris Jenner turned 70 earlier this month, celebrating with a lavish James Bond-themed party hosted by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Beverly Hills.

Now, the Kardashian-Jenner matriarch took to Instagram on Monday, Kris posted a carousel of photos from her birthday celebration.

While the photos showed A-list celebrity guests from the party, the second picture was of Kris posing with none other than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined Kris’ star-studded celebration with the picture showing the momager standing between the royal couple.

As per US Magazine, the royal couple showed “they’re Hollywood royalty as well with a spot on the star-studded guest list.”

The party included guests like Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Oprah, Justin Bieber, and Paris Hilton.

Fans and followers also reacted to the Sussexes posing with Kris Jenner in the comments section.

One wrote, “Meghan and Harry? OMG.”

Another added, “To have the top 1% gathering at @krisjenner Casino Royale birthday says a lot about her influence and power.”

Following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s appearance at the key event, body language expert Judi James took a look at the Duchess of Sussex’s behaviour.

She told DailyMail, “A cut-off ritual like the lowered and hidden eyes suggests a coy lack of need to perform for the cameras, and it implies an assumption of rabid press interest rather than a courting of it.”

Adding, “But Meghan also performs a smile of utter delight here. Her cheeks are rounded, and her lips are hiked up high at the corners to create a symmetric shape.”

“A smile like this will be an acknowledgement to the fans and the cameras, but without any posing effort or showboating,” Judi noted.

Oscar Isaac has indicated that he would consider returning to the Star Wars franchise, though his decision would depend on changes at Disney.

The 46-year-old actor made the admission in an interview with GQ published on November 10, saying, “I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great.”

Isaac added that if conditions improved, he would be “open to having a conversation about a galaxy far away or any number of other things.”

His remarks came two days after Disney and ABC suspended production of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in response to comments made by the host about the September 10 killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. 

The program resumed six days later, with Disney saying the pause was intended to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”

Isaac, who portrayed resistance pilot Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy from 2015 to 2019, has previously spoken positively about his experience on the films. 

In a 2020 Deadline interview, he praised the collaboration with his cast and crew, including Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, and the late Carrie Fisher.

At the time, he also joked that he would “probably” return “if I need another house or something.” More recently, he told Variety he would reprise the role if the story justified his return, saying, “I’d do Star Wars again if there was something good to do with that.”