Gabrielle Union Reflects On Past 50/50 Comment: 'It's A Trauma Response'

Speaking with Les Alfred on her Balanced Black Girl podcast, the mother of one said, "“I famously said, ’50/50 or bust,’ right? And I meant that financially, spiritually, and emotionally.”

She added, “There’s just a lot of days that I have 10% and I need him to be 90%. There’s days that I don’t have sh-t and I need him to be 100%. It’s a trauma response and 50/50 is, ‘I’m not going to be vulnerable enough to trust you with 100% of anything. Not my heart, not my cash.’”

The trauma response, she said, is due to a sexual assault she experienced in college. While working on Octavia Spencer's Apple TV series, Truth Be Told, Gabrielle revealed that the feelings surrounding her assault resurfaced. However, it made her have a vulnerable conversation with Dwyane about their finances.

“I had such anxiety. Like, I was crying, I was shaking. And he was like ‘you insisted on that.’ He’s like ‘I thought it made you feel better.’ I was like ‘it did and right now I want to take it back,’” she said.

“Now it sounds crazy to be like, ‘you Mr. NBA superstar who made a bazillion more amount of money than I do can pay the mortgage.’ Because I hate the feeling of releasing that to someone.”

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