I’ve always felt that if a white celebrity woman had operated like Gabrielle Union, it would be a LeAnn Rimes-level scandal or bigger. I don’t understand why the mainstream tabloid press is so reluctant to treat Union as a scandalous, gossip-worthy person, because she so is. There was a lot of gossip on the urban blogs about whether Dwyane Wade left his wife for Gabrielle, whether she was a “homewrecker,” whether they worked to gaslight and discredit his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches. Then there was the scandal when Wade fathered a child with another woman, likely while he was dating Gabrielle. Anyway, I bring this up because Gabrielle covers the new issue of Ocean Drive Magazine, a Miami-based publication. Union lives in Miami with Wade and his kids, and she refers to his kids as “our kids” throughout the piece, which is very LeAnn Rimes of her. She’s promoting the new season of Being Mary Jane, plus she’s talking about her supporting role in Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation, about the Nat Turner rebellion. You can read the full piece here, and here are some highlights:

She isn’t dependent on Wade’s money: “He appreciates my independence, and my high credit score, and the fact that if I want a Chanel bag, I’m not asking for his Amex; I’ve got my own.”

Her small role in Birth of a Nation: “Career-wise, it gets no better than this. It’s by far the smallest role I’ve ever taken, but easily the most challenging and the most rewarding.” Union plays Esther, a married field slave who is sometimes called upon to work in the house. On one such occasion, she catches the eye of one of the plantation’s white guests. “He sees her and feels entitled to her body. What happens to her is one of the things that sets in motion one of the most successful slave liberations in the history of our country. I definitely didn’t want to be the chick from Bring It On to screw up this incredibly important, powerful film. I just really wanted to—not only as an actor, but as a sexual-assault victim myself—convey the powerlessness that one feels, the voicelessness, the terror, the heartbreak, the physical, emotional, spiritual devastation. This experience was extremely powerful and moving, and it happened at the right time in my life, when I needed to find more purpose in my work. And I found it.”

Hollywood’s lack of diversity: “Half the time, [we] don’t even get the opportunity to fail. At least let me audition, so you can say I just wasn’t good enough, but most times black actors can’t even get in the door. The idea that the playing field has ever been equal is a farce. With leaps and bounds of advances, it’s still grossly unequal—and that goes for the Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, and LGBT communities as well. We’ve made strides, but if Hollywood is really going to mirror the world that it’s catering to, we have a long, long way to go.”

She kept refusing Wade’s advances at first: She “couldn’t take him seriously,” until one day “he finally wore me down,” she says with a laugh. “It was very When Harry Met Sally. One day I just thought, Oh, I guess you could be an option.”

His children are the reason they married: “D and I could have gone on for a long time as boyfriend and girlfriend, but the kids were the driving force in wanting us to be a legitimate, like, real—and I’m using my finger quotes—family in their eyes. We got on board with it, and it’s the best decision we could have made—not just for us as a couple, but for our family.”

Wade won’t pick up tampons: “One of D’s favorite things to do as a family is go to Walmart. We really enjoy Walmart, Target, going to the grocery store. He loves to take the dogs to the car wash. He’s the guy with the Maltese at the car wash! But in Miami, it’s more challenging. He’d never make it through Walgreens. Although I have attempted to send him for tampons, he won’t do it! Can you imagine?”

Bad-cop/good-cop with the kids: “We literally keep track. There’s basically an imaginary chart: ‘I was bad cop last time; now it’s your turn. You have to be the jerk who doles out punishment for missed homework assignments or talking on the phone after curfew.’ With the older boys, they come to me with girl stuff, homework. Or if they’re trying to butter up dad, they definitely come to me to soften me up first. I’m the line of defense, I guess, before dad.”

[From Ocean Drive]

What she says about diversity is a great statement, and I like how inclusive and intersectional her message is. And once again, I have to wonder – why haven’t those comments gotten more attention? As for Wade not picking up her tampons… that’s bad. Especially since he loves Walmart!! Dude, you’re already at Walmart – just breeze through the tampon aisle and pick some up for your wife. PS… Union also went HAM on Twitter about the referee at the last Miami Heat game, you can read more about it here.

Photos courtesy of Ocean Drive.