Gabrielle Union is opening up in a way she never has before, and her transparency, in addition to her talent, style, and beauty, is one major reason why fans love her.
MORE: Gabrielle Union's incredible home gym inside $17.9m mansion will blow your mind
On the heels of her 2017 memoir, We're Going to Need More Wine, the L.A.’s Finest star has a new book on the way, You Got Anything Stronger?, where she opens up about some of the most vulnerable moments in her life, including beginning her therapy journey after being raped at 19 years old, conversations she’s had about racism with her children, and more.
© PHOTOGRAPHED BY AB+DMGabrielle covers the October issue of Health, available Sept. 10 (PHOTOGRAPHED BY AB+DM)
Ahead of the Sept. 14 release of the book, the 48-year-old style star opened up to Health about her inspiration for it - and why she cut her hair right before they shot the October cover and editorial for it, a move she was applauded for when she revealed on Instagram that there was a deeper reason behind it. "Especially as a Black woman, the length of your hair is somehow tied to your worth and your beauty," Gabrielle told the magazine.
"Every time I thought, [expletive] I’ll just cut it, it’s just hair,’ that idea of worth would override my wanting to cut. But then I was working on a movie, and my character was coming to peace with who she is, and how she loves, and how she wants to move through the world—and it made me just want to go through with it."
RELATED: Gabrielle Union twins with daughter in family home as she debuts a new look
"If I want to grow it back, cool. If I want to shave it off, awesome. To free myself from the fear that I would be less-than to the world was, well, freeing."
Gabrielle welcomed her daughter Kaavia after a frustrating misdiagnosis
Gabrielle also opened up about her long battle with infertility. After trying to get pregnant for years, she was diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition that causes the uterus to thicken and enlarge and can make it difficult to carry a pregnancy to term.
Gabrielle said it was “maddening” to not have that diagnosis for so long. "You get so focused on the thing that they’re saying that it is, and there’s not a lot I can do about being my age. When the reality is, it’s something that has nothing to do with that—it’s something that’s been plaguing me for over 25 years, and no one ever got to that issue."
Following that diagnosis, she later welcomed her and husband Dwyane Wade's daughter, Kaavia James, via surrogate in 2018.
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
HELLO!'s selection is editorial and independently chosen – we only feature items our editors love and approve of. HELLO! may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. To find out more visit our FAQ page.
