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With the Tony-winning ‘A Strange Loop,’ Jennifer Hudson becomes an EGOT recipient

A woman wearing black and pictured against a pink backdrop.
Jennifer Hudson, photographed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, reached EGOT status.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Jennifer Hudson has become an EGOT winner.

The singer and actress won a Tony Award as a producer of “A Strange Loop,” which was named best musical on Sunday.

She is the 17th person to reach EGOT status in history. Hudson is also the second Black woman to win all four major awards (following Whoopi Goldberg), as well as the third Black person (after Goldberg and John Legend) and the fifth woman (after Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn and Goldberg) to join the elite club.

The 2022 Tony Awards winners in all categories, including ‘A Strange Loop,’ ‘The Lehman Trilogy,’ ‘Company’ and ‘MJ.’

Hudson won an Oscar in 2007 for her performance in “Dreamgirls,” a Daytime Emmy in 2021 for executive producing the animated film “Baba Yaga,” and two Grammys in 2009 and 2017 for her self-titled debut album and the Broadway cast recording of “The Color Purple,” respectively.

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“A Strange Loop” probes the inner reality of a 26-year-old Black, queer artist who works as an usher at a Broadway musical and is trying against the odds to transform his alienation into art. Nominated for a leading 11 Tony Awards, the musical from Michael R. Jackson also took home the award for its book.

In addition to Hudson and lead producer Barbara Whitman, the producers of “A Strange Loop” include Mindy Kaling, RuPaul Charles, Don Cheadle, Billy Porter, Ilana Glazer and Alan Cumming — all of whom also won a Tony Award on Sunday.

Host Ariana DeBose led a round of applause for the artists and arts workers “who played a vital role in keeping Broadway shows open these past few months.”

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