Hollywood and hip-hop star Lonnie “Common” Lynn was among the celebrities who attended the US Open Tennis Championships over the weekend, but noticeably missing was his EGOT-winning girlfriend.
Photographers captured Common, 53, at the women’s singles final match between Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka and America’s Amanda Anisimova in New York City.
However, Common’s partner, Jennifer Hudson, was not seated next to the “Used to Love” rapper inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the championship round.
An unknown female attendee wearing glasses and curly hair can be seen sitting beside the Oscar and Grammy Award winner to watch Sabalenka defeat Anisimova to win the 2025 U.S. Open in a straight-sets victory [6-3, 7-6(3)] in the women’s singles final on Sept. 6, 2025.
Hudson’s absence and the mystery woman’s presence led to intrusive social media users questioning the state of the former “American Idol” contestant’s relationship with Common.
“I missed most of the Women’s Final, but I did peep this early in the match. Black commentators would’ve immediately called out the fact that J.Hud was nowhere to be seen. But all we got was a ‘there’s Common,’” one person wrote on Threads.
One reply pushed back on the Hudson/Common break-up speculation by writing, “I don’t think so. Tennis folks are classy and [mind] their business. Maybe she didn’t want to attend.”
“J.Hud out, new girl in?” a third Threads poster wondered in reaction to the photo of Common at the hardcourt tennis tournament solo.
Someone on X claimed, “My grandma called me to say, ‘The man Jennifer Hudson [dates] is at tennis with another woman.’ She [is] talking about Common.”
As of this writing, there is no confirmation that Common and Hudson, 43, have split up. In fact, “The Barbershop: The Next Cut” actor still has several visible posts with J.Hud on his Instagram page.
Hudson has not scrubbed her Instagram of Common either. Both entertainers recently reposted a picture of themselves with R&B singer John Legend to their respective accounts.
“So deeply grateful to my family @common and @iamjhud – two Chicago legends who came through and made the night even more unforgettable. Thank you for making it so special for me and for the city,” Legend wrote in the August 27-dated caption.
Legend’s five-slide carousel included a photo of a smiling the two Chicago lovebirds hugging as Hudson displayed a huge smile on her face.
Common and J.Hud first sparked dating rumors over a decade ago when the two A-listers were seen together at various industry events, such as Clive Davis’ 2015 Pre-Grammy Gala.
By 2022, the whispers of romance got louder after Hudson and Common played spouses in the “Breathe” science fiction motion picture, which eventually got released in April 2024.
“People create their narratives of it and it’s like, OK, you know, how you feel,” Hudson told Entertainment Tonight in 2022 about the Common dating rumors. “We shot a film together and he played my husband. We gotta eat in between those moments.”
It was not until January 2024 that Common finally confirmed he was romantically involved with the “Dreamgirls” actress. He appeared on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” with a bouquet of flowers for the host.
“Yes, 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. There’s something real down to earth about her. She’s talented,” Common responded when Hudson asked him about his love life.
The Chicago-bred emcee then made it clear he was talking about J. Hud by adding, “I set my standards kind of high because she had to have an EGOT. She had to win an Oscar on her first movie. I set my standard high. She had to get her own talk show.”
Reports began circulating in May 2025 that Common was close to getting engaged to Hudson. An unnamed source for Life & Style insisted that marriage is “something they both seem to want.”
Throughout his time in the public eye, Common has also been linked to other celebrities like Erykah Badu, Taraji P. Henson, Serena Williams, Angela Rye, and Tiffany Haddish. Hudson has a 16-year-old son with her ex-fiancé, former WWE wrestler David Otunga.
While Common took in this year’s US Open minus his longtime sweetheart, he did get to rub shoulders with “The Summer I Turned Pretty” cast member Lola Tung and her mother, Pia Tung, while seated in the same section.
The US Open was a star-studded affair. Usher, Kevin Hart, Spike Lee, Steph Curry. Logan Paul, David Duchnovny, Jessica Alba, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were spotted at the sports event.
Common has spent the last two years starring as Robert Sims in the “Silo” science fiction drama series. It premiered on Apple TV+ in May 2023 and was renewed for a third and final fourth season.
Season 4 of “The Jennifer Hudson Show” premieres on Sept. 15. Since its debut in 2022, the program has earned two NAACP Image Award victories and multiple Daytime Emmy Award nominations.
