Jennifer Hudson has forgiven her estranged brother-in law, William Balfour, for murdering her mother, brother and nephew in 2008 because his tough upbringing left him emotionally damaged.

Balfour was ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars in July after he was convicted of breaking into the family’s Chicago, Illinois home and slaying Hudson’s mother Darnell Donerson, her brother Jason Hudson, and seven-year-old nephew Julian King, who were found shot dead in the back of an abandoned SUV three days later.

However, despite all the pain and suffering Balfour has caused her, the Dreamgirls star has made peace with the situation because he was mentally unwell and too far gone to get help.

During an interview on Oprah’s 'Next Chapter', which aired on Sunday, she said, “Yes (I forgive him) ’cause I feel like for the most part it’s not his fault, it’s how he was brought up.

“We tried to offer love, but you were so far gone, that you couldn’t even see that. A lot of things came out, that we didn’t even know about, from his upbringing, which is like he never had a chance. You never had a chance. Had you had the love that my mother gave us, or the background that some have, then you would’ve stood a chance. So how could your heart not go out to that?”