Actress and “Perfect Find” producer Gabrielle Union is hitting back after years of criticism about her relationship and marriage to Dwyane Wade and their age difference.
Union optioned the book “The Idea of You” from her friend Robinne Lee and was now proud to bring the novel to the big screen at the SXSW Film & TV Festival premiere in Austin, Texas.
The relatable film follows Solène Marchand, a 40-year-old single mother portrayed by Anne Hathaway, who becomes romantically involved with a young partner almost 16 years her junior, Hayes Campbell, a 24-year-old boy band singer played by Nicholas Galitzine. At the core of the movie is how the two navigate the judgment and scrutiny as they try to find love.
For Union, the story strikes a personal chord. Marrying the NBA star, who is nine years her junior, she’s familiar with the societal eyebrow raises her lead character encounters.
As early as 2013 and 2014, people easily shared their disapproval on social media.
“Gabrielle Union (40) & Dwayne Wade (31) that’s a 11 age difference. Do you think he too old for me I’m “18” that will be 13 year age difference,” a post read on X.
Gabrielle Union(40)&Dwayne Wade(31) thats a 11 age difference.Do you think he too old for me I'm "18" that will be 13 year age difference.😂😩
— Kiandra (@Kiandraaaa_) July 1, 2013
Years later, people were still talking about the age gap in her marriage.
“Age only matters in a relationship when someone is benefiting from being in the relationship,” one X user posted. “Gabrielle Union is 9 years older than Dwayne Wade but no cares because no one is benefiting from their relationship.”
Age only matters in a relationship when someone is benefiting from being in the relationship. Gabrielle Union is 9 years older than Dwayne Wade but no cares because no one is benefiting from their relationship.
— Yatclub (@YouGottaLaugh_) May 21, 2018
According to the Cover Girl spokeswoman, the “Idea of You” film is an opportunity to see middle-aged women in storylines where they too find love and happiness — graces she believes are often reserved on the silver screen for women much younger.
“I live it. I married my husband when I was almost 41, and everyone was like, ‘oh,’” Union told Business Insider at a screening of the film.
“People start to police what your dreams should be,” she continued. “What you should even want at your age, at your ‘big age.'”
Union, who for years played characters much younger than her real age, insists that it is crucial “to see the joy of women of all ages … not just 25-year-olds.”
If people are not commenting on the couple’s age, they are talking about how Union has repeatedly defended her household and paying half of the expenses with Wade, viewing their union as a true partnership.
Gabrielle Union says her and Dwade split their bills 50/50 and she still has anxiety about being financially secure due to all of her responsibilities which forces her to be a workaholic! “You better work b*tch, oh you want to sleep in.” pic.twitter.com/lrvhZ3Ax8Q
— Black Millionaires ® (@Blackmillions_) May 15, 2023
Together, they also navigate the joys and challenges of raising their blended family, which includes Union and Wade’s 5-year-old daughter Kaavia, along with Wade’s children from previous relationships: Zaire, 22, and Zaya, 16, Xavier, 10, and nephew Dahveon Morris, 21, under the public’s eye.
The star continues to receive backlash, mostly from Black women.
“Last night I heard Gabrielle union is splitting bills 50/50 with Dwayne Wade and I was deeply flabbergasted,” one person wrote. “The only thing I’m going to say is that I will pay 150% by myself before I go pay 50% with a man.”
Last night I heard Gabrielle union is splitting bills 50/50 with Dwayne Wade and I was deeply flabbergasted 😂
— BigKoks (@LaRevulva) March 28, 2024
The only thing I’m going to say is that I will pay 150% by myself before I go pay 50% with a man.
Despite facing societal backlash and relentless criticism of their age difference and how they handle their finances, the couple, now a decade into their marriage, remains steadfast in their affection.
“It’s weird to say I’m head of household ’cause, in this household, we split everything 50/50,” she said during an interview with Bloomberg Originals’ “Idea Generation.”
Wade further explained, “50/50 in our household is — first of all, let’s say I have 20 to 50 responsibilities; my wife have 20 to 50 responsibilities. And when I say that, that means she has her mother, she has her sisters, she has her dad, she has her, she has a lot of things that she’s responsible for. You know what she does? She pays 100 percent of that.”’
Wade told Shannon Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay” that although they take care of things for Kaavia together, they went half on their new home in L.A. after he uttered the words “my house” during an argument.
“I think I said one time, we was in Miami, I said something about it being my house that I paid for. My wife looked at me and said, ‘You will never say that to me again when it’s something we share,’ ” he recalled. “And so my wife was like, ‘When we move to L.A., I got half on it. You will never say my house again.’”
Union now makes it a point to troll critics who still have an issue with how she lives her life. The new film is also funny, another aspect of the project that she thought was important to celebrate.
“We’re desperate for levity. We’re desperate for hope, we’re desperate to believe that love exists and that it can exist for anybody,” she continued, adding that “The Idea of You,” which premieres on Prime Video on May 2, is “that kinda movie where you wanna leave and hug somebody.”
