Gabrielle Union is over it. After enduring weeks of criticism over saying she felt like she could “do whatever the hell [I] want” and cheat on her first husband, former NFL player Chris Howard, Gabrielle, 50, fired back. “If your gonna get your panties in a twist about something I’ve been talking about since 2005 — in not one but two New York Times best-selling books — at least listen to the whole thing,” Gabrielle told Entertainment Tonight while on the red carpet of the Truth Be Told premiere. “Just so you know where your anger actually is.”
The drama in question stems from Gabrielle’s appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast earlier in the month. When discussing her five-year marriage to Chris, 47, she described it as “dysfunctional from day one” and that “neither one of us felt like the marriage should get in the way of our dating.” Because Chris was also allegedly cheating on her, and Gabrielle was the breadwinner of the two, she thought all was fair in love and war. “I just felt entitled to it as well. I was paying all the bills. I was working my a** off, and I felt like that’s what comes with it,” she said, calling her infidelity “the spoils of riches.”
“Like my dad before me, whoever has the most gets to do whatever the hell they want,” said Gabrielle on the podcast. She also explained that she sought “validation” from “certain kinds of guys” during the marriage. “Having certain kinds of guys like me and want me… That made me feel like I was worthy and good and valuable and deserving,” she said. “In hindsight, yes, I absolutely needed something from them that I was not providing for myself, and neither was my marriage” It was such a stupid relationship that should have never got out of the dating phase,” Gabrielle added. The couple divorced in 2006 after attending a couples therapy session, in which the therapist recommended they separate because they had”nothing in common.”
Gabrielle faced a backlash over her comments, including from the always-opinionated 50 Cent. During an appearance on Big Boy’s Neighborhood, 50 said, “For just saying I was the breadwinner making more money, so now he should just go with whatever I say until she just go find something she like? This really what we talking about this is h** s***.” (h/t Hop Hop DX). Fiddy went on to mischaracterize the situation by saying Gabrielle’s infidelity was due to Chris Howard not making enough (“Because she’s saying if you got the bigger bag, then I’ll listen, but if the bag ain’t right, I’m out”) while excluding the “dysfunction” aspect she brought up in the podcast.
Gabrielle married Dwyane Wade in 2014.