Actress Jennifer Hudson buys assistant a house for Christmas

[January 04, 2014]  (Reuters) — The gift of a house brought a whole new meaning to the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas" for actress and singer Jennifer Hudson's longtime friend and assistant, Walter Williams.

A video posted on the Oscar-winning star's Instagram account on Tuesday, showed Williams screaming with joy and enthusiastically hugging Hudson after she handed him what appeared to be the deed to a house.

"My assistant Walter's reaction when he found out I was buying him a house for Christmas!" Hudson wrote as a caption to the video, which had 17,300 likes on Friday.

Hudson, 32, whose agent was not immediately available for comment, launched her career as a contestant on Fox's "American Idol." She went on to win a Grammy for her debut album and an Academy Award for her role in the 2006 film "Dreamgirls" before famously losing 80 pounds after joining Weight Watchers.

Hudson, who grew up in Chicago, said in a 2011 interview with the LGBT magazine The Advocate that she and Williams have been friends since they were both in the sixth grade.

The location of the home she purchased for Williams was not immediately known.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts; editing by Barbara Goldberg and Gunna Dickson)

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