Kate Hudson just called Muskoka “the most special place in my heart”
Maybe it’s time to buy back that family cottage
Kate Hudson is promoting season two of her Netflix series Running Point, a comedy set in the front offices of professional basketball. Hudson plays Isla, a reformed party girl who inherits her father’s NBA franchise.
Her character has some redeeming qualities, but good taste in cities is not one of them—at least based on a scene in which she calls Toronto “the most boring place on earth.” Another character on the show takes it one step further, referring to our beloved metropolis as a “shithole,” and you have to wonder if this is all part of some elaborate under-the-radar Drake beef.
Related: Is Cindy Crawford trolling Canadians from her Muskoka cottage?
A journalist from BuzzFeed Canada called Hudson out during a press junket. “Here’s the thing,” Hudson responded, “we are not our characters.” The actor went on to explain that she is actually a huge fan of the 6 and especially of its nearby cottage country.
Hudson’s mom, Goldie Hawn, and her stepdad, Kurt Russell, owned a cottage on Lake Rosseau for more than 20 years. “As someone who grew up my whole life going to Muskoka and spending most of my time in Toronto, from 14 to about 35, every summer, I can attest that Toronto is one of the great cities of the world. But, more importantly, that lake country is maybe the most special place in my heart,” Hudson said.
Related: Yes, that was Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively at the Muskoka Drive-In
This is not entirely surprising. Hollywood stars like Cindy Crawford and Posh and Becks flock to Ontario in the warmer months to escape their fishbowl lives and, you know, the looming threat of totalitarianism down south.
In the summer of 2007, following her split from Chris Robinson, Hudson fled to Muskoka with her new boyfriend at the time, Dax Shepard. The couple was photographed making out dockside, prompting Perez Hilton to write the headline “Macking in Muskoka.” The Hawn-Russells sold their place back in 2017, but fond memories and gossip history remain.
So it seems like Hudson is actually an Ontario mega-fan. Stand down, Drake.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
