The series finale of “Being Mary Jane” aired on BET last month, and the highly anticipated event left fans with lots of questions.
Luckily, Gabrielle Union was able to address why they existed during a recent late-night talk show appearance.
Aired as a movie more than two years after the final episode of the series aired, the “Being Mary Jane” finale saw Union’s character Mary Jane Paul ultimately marry Justin. However, it wasn’t a smooth process. It was revealed that Michael Ealy’s character was MJ’s groom after he initially broke off their engagement upon learning she went to a sperm bank and became pregnant. But he wound up bonding with the baby later on.
After a few other hiccups — including Mary Jane’s old college flame showing up and proposing in between her reunion with Justin as well as MJ coping with her best friend’s breast cancer diagnosis — Mary Jane had her happy ending at last.
As for how Union felt about the conclusion of the show, she did not hold back while discussing it on “Watch What Happens Live” on May 20.
“It gets a little tricky after you see the network,” Union begins addressing a caller’s question. “I was pleased that they even gave us the opportunity to wrap the storylines … I loved our finale … It just sucked that we kind of ran out of time and other people had to take jobs during the production of the movie.”
That explains why Mary Jane’s bestie Kara, played by Lisa Vidal, was not in attendance at the wedding.
“For the most part it was amazing and I’m just grateful that they let us have an ending,” Union says.
The series’ future was in question in 2017 following Union’s $3 million breach of contract lawsuit against BET the year prior. In it, the actress claimed she was earning less after the network prolonged her contract by combining the series’ fourth and fifth seasons into one that would include as many as 26 episodes. She initially agreed to have a break between those seasons.
After a couple of months, the suit was settled with BET releasing a statement saying they “reached an amicable agreement with Gabrielle Union and look forward to sharing the new season of ‘Being Mary Jane’ with its loyal fans beginning January 10, 2017.”
Asked on “WWHL” for confirmation that the suit was settled, Union said, “oh, honey, yes!”
“I would not have shown up on set,” she adds before adding she was “very pleased” with the result.
