They say everyone has a story, and Gabrielle Union has one to tell that goes far beyond the salacious
gossip you may read about her in entertainment and gossip blogs.
This month, she’s covering Vegas Magazine’s May/June 2014 issue, and although Gabby dons some
super cute ‘fits in the magazine, it’s the feature interview that steals the
show. Inside, she dishes on everything from the negative woman she used to be,
to the point of her career where she thought she had lost everything, and how
her mom’s divorce affected her life.
Below are a few things we learned from the feature:
She’s always felt
like an outsider
My dad told me, ‘You gotta be bigger and badder and better
than the next woman, just to be considered even.’ I felt like I had to become a
chameleon [in high school]. Even as a popular girl, I was always looking
through the window and very afraid of being exposed. I just wanted to
assimilate and fit in.
Around 2005, she felt
as though she had hit rock bottom
But as Union was making her way in Hollywood, winning parts
in movies such as Bring It On and Ten Things I Hate About You, her
self-described “slick mouth” and penchant for “bagging on others” were earning
her few friends in the business. Her outspokenness damaged her reputation,
which was further compromised by a perfect Tinseltown storm. In 2005, her first
marriage, to NFL star Chris Howard, began its descent into divorce; her network
series Night Stalker was canceled; her agent’s phone was no longer ringing off
the hook; and she felt she had hit rock bottom.] “I felt destroyed,” she says.
“I literally went under the bed with my dog and just stayed there.”
She credits Oprah for
saving her life
Crediting Winfrey with saving her life, Union talks openly
about having been raped at age 19, when she was closing up the shoe store where
she was working. She had seen a show that Winfrey had moderated on what to do
if you’re the victim of a violent crime. Channeling the talk-show host’s voice,
Union verbally engaged her attacker and was able to grab his gun. He ran and
was later arrested and incarcerated. To this day she continues to lobby for
victims of sexual violence, to advocate for rape crisis centers across the
country, and to publicly give thanks to Winfrey.
She began focusing on
activism after she lost her BFF to cancer. (Her best friend was 32.)
“At the end, Sook turned to me and whispered, ‘Don’t let my
death be in vain. I’m passing the baton. Don’t drop it, bitch.’” Union promised
her BFF that she wouldn’t and, true to her word, she became a Circle of Promise
national ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, speaking up all over the
world for women living with breast cancer.
She learned how to
move on from heartbreak from her mother
Mention her mother, Theresa, and Union’s voice gets soft,
her eyes teary. “For years I didn’t get her,” she says. “But it was my mom who
got up the courage to walk away after 30 years of an unhappy marriage. She
handled her divorce with dignity, and she never asked my father for a dime. As
her daughter, I asked, ‘Why? You’re gonna start over?’ And she said, ‘I went
from my father’s house to your father’s house. I want to get my own house.’ I learned
a valuable lesson: Take the high road and move on.”
She adapted to Dwyane
Wade coming as a package deal fairly quickly
We were at the construction site in Miami where we’re
building our dream home—aka the money pit,” she says. “I was wearing my Prada
combat boots, no makeup, and D had a videographer recording the whole thing. I
went from no kids to D getting full custody, and the next day we had a full
house. So it was instant. Our lives never skipped a beat. When you’re someone
who goes from never having thought about birthing her own babies to a
ready-made family that has immediate needs and wants and desires, your life
takes a back burner. If I were lucky enough to have one come out of my body,
then great, I’d be totally open to that. But D’s kids are more than just part
of the wedding. They are part of my life. They’re a package deal.”
When I first came out from under the bed, my coach had me
write down 10 things that made me happy. All I came up with was ground meat,
imitation crab, and a cold beer. And A.J. said to me, ‘Gabby, if you don’t know
what makes you happy, how can someone else know?’ So now I finally know: a warm
environment with my dude. Our family. Our friends. Our dogs. I still like a
cold beer. I love my girlfriends. They all came to Vegas last year for Memorial
Day weekend. I think we got through one day being reasonably respectful. It was
like The Hangover, Part 6. We had a ball. ‘Is that a chicken? Who brought the chicken?’
We’ve all lived so much, you get to a place where you can let someone else be
the appropriate one. I want to drink Champagne out of the bottle. Everybody
should dance on the table once in a while. Life is too short.
I’m finally good. Regardless of whatever happens, whatever
comes and goes. I’m good.
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