Gabrielle Union

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Birth name Gabrielle Monique Union
Nationality USA
Birth 29 october 1972 (51 years) at Omaha (USA)

Gabrielle Monique Union Wade (born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Among her notable roles is her performance as the cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the film Bring It On, (2000). In 2000, she played a medical doctor in the CBS drama series City of Angels. In 2003, Union starred opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the hit film Bad Boys II. Also in 2003, she starred with LL Cool J in Deliver Us from Eva. In 2008, she was featured in the film Cadillac Records with Adrien Brody, Beyoncé Knowles and Jeffrey Wright. In 2012, Union was featured in an ensemble cast of the film version of Think Like a Man.

Biography

In 1992, at the age of 19, Union was attacked and raped at her part-time job at a Payless Store. Her attacker later turned himself in and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. Union has insisted that she would not have survived her victimhood after her rape had it not been for watching Winfrey's talk show.
Winfrey stated Union's speech upon receiving the Fierce and Fearless Award, where Union admitted that she had once reveled "in gossip and rumors", inspired her because she "had never heard anyone be that honest in public or private about the competition and fierce drive to be seen and succeed in Hollywood."
Union said during an appearance on Oprah's Next Chapter that she used to be a "mean girl" until attending a party with her trainer and sounding board, A.J. Johnson. "I was holding court – because I can turn a phrase and be a little slick myself – and I was trashing somebody. Just ripping them to shreds, head to toe," Union recalled. "A.J. pulls me aside and says, 'Okay, now, how did your life change? Did you get the guy? Did you get the job? Is your house any bigger? Did money just magically get put in your pocket? What positive [event] happened in your life after you just tore that woman down?'" In February 2012, Union was identified as a suspicious person by airport security and was subjected to a "hair patdown". She tweeted about the experience. "Hopefully my weave doesn't cause turbulence," Union joked. "It's clearly very powerful."

Union ran in the Global Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 2, 2012, in honor of her friend Kristen Martinez, who died from breast cancer. Union was present at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on August 23, 2013, and unveiled a limited-edition 1963 March on Washington stamp to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the march.

Union is a spokeswoman for Neutrogena. She became affiliated with Neutrogena in 2004. It was reported in November 2014, that Union became ambassador for nail polish company SensatioNail. She became the company's first celebrity ambassador and creative advisor.
In 2010, Union launched Love & Blessings, a clothing line for plus-sized women. The line was inspired by Union's full-figured sister.
In March 2014, Union released her first wine, "Vanilla Puddin'".

Relationships
While in high school, Union dated former NBA player Jason Kidd. Union has said Kidd broke up with her two weeks before junior prom. Union met NFL player Chris Howard at a party in 1999. They married on May 5, 2001, and separated in October 2005. The divorce was finalized in 2006. Union said that when she got divorced she "sort of realized that [s]he hadn't been making sound choices which were the best for her to pursue her hopes and dreams and aspirations and passions." In a 2014 interview, Union stated that she may have rushed into the relationship for the wrong reasons, noting that, "in my 20s, I was all about getting the ring." Union had earlier reflected that she spent much of the marriage "upset" and from the relationship, she realized that the men in her life were "just human."

In 2009, Union began dating NBA player Dwyane Wade. According to Wade, he and Union briefly split up at some point early in 2013 because of career demands. During that time, Wade and a longtime friend conceived a son, Xavier, born in November 2013. Wade and Union reconciled, and became engaged in December 2013, the month after the birth. The couple married on August 30, 2014, in Miami, Florida. Upon the marriage, Union became a stepmother to Xavier and Wade's two elder sons from his first marriage, Zaire (born 2002) and Zion (born 2007). Union stated in an interview prior to the marriage that she and Wade would be signing a prenuptial agreement to protect their individual assets. Union and Wade spent their honeymoon in the Maldives and Tanzania.

Activism
Union is an advocate for survivors of assault, and has voiced her support for Jada, a Texas teenager who was allegedly taken advantage of after passing out during a party and had her assault filmed and posted in clips online, where her assault has been mocked by others on social networking websites. Union posted a picture of Jada on Instagram and wrote: "Rape is never funny. Ever. This brave young woman is what a real-life superhero looks like.... Someone who stands up and acts when injustice occurs. She's just a child and she's using her voice for good, even in the face of her own personal horror.... My hero #IStandWithJada".

Union has also addressed the death of Trayvon Martin and stated "When you have influence I think it’s the responsible thing to do, to speak out on an issue when you see injustice. I’m still fighting for Trayvon ... we all should." In the months following Martin's death, Union supported a petition that called for Florida District Attorney Norman Wolfinger to bring charges against George Zimmerman. After Zimmerman was acquitted of charges in Martin's death in July 2013, Union remarked, "Apparently walking while black is a crime punishable by death." Union was angered by Todd Akin's position on abortion, which he explained as a woman not being able to get pregnant in the case of "legitimate rape".
Tanganyika Williams, the aunt of NBA player Matt Barnes, was killed on July 8, 2014. Union posted on both Instagram and Twitter, calling for anyone with information on the killer of Barnes's aunt to report their information to authorities.

Politics
In 2008, Union supported Barack Obama in his presidential campaign. She would later say that the election "invigorated me in a way that I’d never really been before about being part of the process". She added, "I take a lot of pride knowing that my president understands that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, and we have a responsibility to each other. He understands that America prospers when we’re all doing it together, when everyone does their fair share and plays by the same rules." After working on the unsuccessful pilot for Army Wives, Union was appointed by President Obama to work with the National Advisory Committee for Violence Against Women. Union called the appointment "a little more fulfilling" than the pilot. Obama contacted her specifically after learning that the pilot had fallen through.

Union participated in the Obama campaign's "Greater Together" initiative. She was visible on HBCU campuses and spoke of her belief that the media was against the president. Of the media's negative focus on President Obama, Union said, "As we're bombarded with a 24-hour news cycle telling us everything that the GOP Republican Party ] believes is wrong with our president, it's important to drive the point home what exactly he has accomplished, separate the truth from fiction and also mobilize voters".
In late-2012, she held a campaign event for President Obama in Tallahassee, Florida. In an interview, she cited her reasons for endorsing him for re-election, including satisfaction over the death of Osama Bin Laden and an interest in keeping student loans down. She also expressed her own views on equality while reasoning why Obama should be president. Union called on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to release his tax returns and birth certificate and noted that his father George W. Romney had released his own tax returns when running for President of the United States. The office of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in November 2014 announced a campaign entitled "Take a Stand" and its commission of a short film featuring Union and Tika Sumpter.