Gabrielle Union Opens Up to Taraji
Actress Gabrielle Union got candid about an event that caused her a great deal of trauma. During an interview for her new Facebook talk show entitled Peace of Mind with Taraji, Union gets deep. The actress expresses how the pandemic has strengthened her relationship with Dwayne Wade.
Union told Henson and co-host Jade the details of the assault she experienced the summer before her sophomore year of college.
“Whenever I mention being a rape survivor, people react dramatically and then quickly forget. Society has preconceived notions about how PTSD and rape victims should appear, and it doesn’t match me,” said Union, Henson, and Jade.
How the Quarantine Influenced Her Trauma
Union realized how spending so much time with her husband allowed her to get to know him better.
“I think it has been hard during the quarantine because we are in the same space,” explained Union. “I haven’t really been home regularly since I became an adult, so it’s a bit strange for me to adjust to spending time with my husband every day. It’s like, ‘Oh, you’ll be here every day… okay, yeah, I guess that’s good,'” she said.
She’s Learning to Let Her Guard Down
Union is confident in Wade’s ability to love her regardless of what she has endured. It is clear that he doesn’t see a damaged woman. All in all, she is loved for all else she brings to the table.
Union continues, “So, you have to find out: ‘Do you love me for all of … the baggage?’” she stated. “I worry that I’ve shared too much, and it might push them away because people don’t often see damaged women as lovable.”
Union was assaulted while she worked at a Payless Shoe Source. Her rapist was caught and sentenced to 33 years in prison. She won a negligence suit against Payless because it irresponsibly failed to warn employees, even though he had been identified as a robber at a different location.
