Gabrielle Union Felt Entitled to Be Unfaithful With Her First Husband
Gabrielle Union’s most high profile relationship might be with current husband Dywane Wade. But before marrying the NBA star, Union was involved in another relationship that didn’t last nearly as long.
Gabrielle Union felt her relationship with her first husband should’ve never happened
Union might be the first to admit that she made more than a few mistakes with her first marriage. She met Chris Howard, who was a former running back for the Jacksonville, Jaguars, at a 1999 party in Jacksonville, Florida. Two years later, they were married.
It was a very short commitment for both, however, as they divorced in 2006. During their five years together, their marriage was far from an ideal one. In a very candid interview on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Union discussed that infidelity soon became a silent part in their relationship. Union also quipped, since Howard was being unfaithful, she’d step out of her marriage to outdo him.
“In our first marriage, neither one of us felt like the marriage should get in the way of our dating,” Union said. “A part of it was keeping up with his activities and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what you’re doing? Oh, you’re gonna feel this one.'”
However, there was another reason why Union was okay with her affairs back then. The Bad Boys 2 star claimed she was the breadwinner of the household, and she felt this gave her special privileges.
“I just felt entitled to it, as well. I was paying all the bills, I was working my a** off and I felt like that’s what comes, the spoils of riches,” she said.
“Like my dad before me, whoever has the most gets to do whatever the hell they want, is what I thought,” Union added. “It was just dysfunctional from day one.”
It’s unclear how much money both Union and Howard had when they were together. But today, Union’s net worth is $40 million. Meanwhile, Howard’s Net Worth is $3 million according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Gabrielle Union saw signs that her marriage with Chris Howard was doomed from the start
Union saw cracks in her marriage with Howard before they were officially married. In her book We’re Going to Need More Wine (via Daily Mail), Union reflected on the red flags she intentionally looked past with her ex. One of the dangers that set off the Bring It On star’s senses was the ex-football player’s unique marriage proposal.
“I spent the whole day at the spa and when I got back to his house, there was a rose petal path from the front door to the bedroom,” Union remembered. “At the end was Chris, down on one knee. He had a bucket of KFC on the floor, and he was eating KFC potato wedges with one hand while holding a ring in the other.”
Union also went to a friend of hers named Dulé to do a psychic reading on their relationship. The reading also spelled disaster for their marriage.
“Dulé thought this marriage was a terrible mistake, so as he read from 1 Corinthians, he kept sighing dramatically, pausing to look at me like ‘Are you getting this?’” Union wrote.
Gabrielle Union dealt with her divorce by getting in shape
Despite her marriage with Howard not being the best, the divorce still hurt Union on some level. To deal with her marriage failures, Union chose to take care of herself rather than fall apart.
“After I got separated from my husband, I got a trainer, got a meal delivery service and went back to church. I felt like I needed some direction. I just tried to stay positive. Instead of going to Fatburger and hitting happy hour, I tried to run on the treadmill, hike, take my dogs out,” she once said according to Female First.
Apart from that, Union’s friends also offered her a very reassuring support system.
“I have a great group of friends who get me through everything. I went through a divorce and it was speculated on in those blogs, everywhere. It’s definitely hurtful. Sometimes there are those days where I don’t want to leave the house because I don’t want to be shredded in those articles… so I call my friends and they talk me off the ledge, as we are fond of saying,” Union said.
