Gabrielle Union has never shied away from talking about her troubled past. The actress has opened up on several occasions and discussed how certain traumatic experiences turned her cold throughout her early adult years.
It wasn’t until Union took advantage of therapy, she said, that she realized there was a light at the end of her dark tunnel. However, getting to that light may have taken a little longer to reach had it not been for Tisha Campbell.
While attending the 38th Indie Spirits Awards, Union was stopped by The Wrap’s Elijah Gil, when she was asked to explain the importance of therapy for people of color.
“All of us are going through something,” Union said. “We tend to isolate and we tend to assume that we are on an island by ourselves and no one ever could understand anything we could possibly have gone through and then therapy happens.”
She continued, “you’re like, A) I’m not alone, B) there is a way out. I can see the light. It might be far in the distance, but I know it’s out there and, wow, I have a community.”
The “Being Mary Jane” actress then thanked Campbell for introducing her to therapy at such an “early point” in her acting career.
“Having Tisha really just be like ‘You don’t have to suffer’ and ‘I’m gonna give you this gift,’ and it’s a gift that has changed my life. It’s changed my career.”
Union then mentioned how receiving a helping hand influenced her to do the same for others, “I have paid it forward. She added, “I’ve never been thanked more than when I offer to pay for therapy.”
In November 2022, Union revealed on “The View” that Campbell supported her by paying for her therapy. The “Bring It On” star then acknowledged how fortunate she was to have the “Martin” alum as a role model who wanted to see her succeed in the industry.
“That was not covered by Sag insurance by the way, out of pocket,” she said. “That’s the one, you know, who really has your back.”
Campbell recently appeared on the same show last week where she emotionally recalled their interaction.
While discussing her new television series “Act You Age,” which also features comedians Yvette Nicole Brown and Kym Whitley, Whoopi Goldberg asked Campbell about her past act, to which the 54-year-old said that she simply wanted to see Union “win.”
“The fame monster is an ugly, ugly thing that one can get addicted to,” said Campbell. “I really, really wanted her to be okay. Not that anything was wrong, it’s just that I wanted her to be supported.”
Campbell also admitted to crying after watching Union talk about her on the daytime talk show.
Union has been very vocal about suffering from anxiety, as well as being sexually assaulted at 19 years old.
The biological mother of one discussed overcoming traumatic struggles in her 2017 memoir, “We’re Going to Need More Wine.”
In 2018, the book was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literacy Work-Debut Author.”
