Exclusive: Kate Hudson's father predicted split

“The irony of Kate’s marriage to Chris is it sort of parallels mine to Goldie. I mean, I’m a singer in a band. Chris is a singer in a band. The difference is is that Goldie met me when I was on the upswing, the pinnacle of my success. And Kate met Chris when The Black Crowes had been around for what, 12 years or more, and he was sort of on the twilight of his success. And I just hope that that doesn’t affect Kate."

In Hollywood, for once, father knows best. The estranged father, that is. The father that’s a Hudson Brother.

Kate Hudson announced today that she and Chris Robinson are splitting up after nearly six years of marriage. But if they’d taken the warning from Kate’s father (and her mom Goldie Hawn’s ex-husband), Bill Hudson, she and the stoner rock singer might still be hanging in and he’d be home watching their two-year-old son while she’s out making movies.

We interviewed Bill Hudson in his Malibu recording studio last summer in an exclusive interview for the late, lamented revival of A Current Affair. Here’s some of what Bill had to say as he spilled the beans about the dark side of Goldie Hawn and the effect she’s had on their little girl:

“When Kate married Chris Robinson, I thought she was young. But on the other hand, I thought that the choice that she was making was interesting. Because here she was, her career taking off, and she decides to get married at this young age and actually have children. And there were things in the press about Chris and his drug addiction. The fact that he has taken heroin and smokes pot.

“As far as the heroin is concerned, I think that that’s a horrible thing. But he’s through that stage. And as far as the pot smoking is concerned, I mean, I don’t know much about it in terms of how it affects Kate’s relationship with Chris, but I wasn’t terribly concerned about that. I think Chris is a good guy.

"Chris has been subjected to some really bad press in terms of them calling him ‘Mr. Kate Hudson’ and they refer to their child Ryder as 'Ryder Russell.' The child’s name, my grandchild, is Ryder Russell Robinson. But when you look at the magazine articles and things they always call him Ryder Russell. I don’t know how that affects Chris. It would surely affect me. I find that Chris has sort of gotten a bad rap because Kate’s the more famous one in the marriage. And I hope doesn’t have an ill effect on him. More importantly, I hope it doesn’t have an ill affect on Kate. If Chris Robinson’s career doesn’t pick up or never becomes what it was, they’re married and whatever is Kate’s is Chris’s, and that’s the way it should be.

“It wasn’t the way it was with myself and her mother, and I hope Kate uses my relationship with her mother as an example of what not to do. She’s not doing that in some ways, because I have yet to see my grandchild. But then again, you know the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. And here Kate has been subjected to years of Goldie’s manipulation about my place in her life, in spite of the fact that Kate was old enough to know the truth."