Jennifer Hudson made her Broadway debut this season in The Color Purple, but didn't receive a Tony nomination this morning. While the production was nominated for Best Musical Revival, and her co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Danielle Brooks were both recognized, the Oscar-winner was left out.
But Hudson said she is "not surprised." In a now-deleted tweet, Hudson responded to someone who called her lack of recognition the "ultimate snub."
Clearly, Hudson has a bone to pick, but the target of her ire is not quite clear. If she was trying to make the point that the Tonys tend to snub celebrities, well, she isn't too far off base. (Daniel Radcliffe, for instance, has never been nominated despite multiple well-reviewed stints on Broadway.)
Hudson's name was certainly used to draw audiences to The Color Purple, but critics hardly disputed her talent. In fact, her performance was well reviewed. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called her "enchanting." New York's Jesse Green wrote that she "brings surprising dramatic intelligence to Shug Avery’s own transformations and unsurprising vocal éclat to her clutch of terrific numbers."
Even if she had been nominated, though, Hudson wasn't planning on staying in the show. In April producers announced that Hudson's last performance would be May 8.
Hudson did offer congratulations to her nominated co-stars.