'Dysfunctional from day one': Gabrielle Union says she felt 'ENTITLED' to cheat on ex Chris Howard
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Gabrielle Union opened up about her infidelity and 'dysfunctional' marriage to her first husband Chris Howard in the 2000s. The 50-year-old actress, who had previously discussed the warning signs in her marriage to Howard, 47, in her book, said her relationship with the former NFL player was "dysfunctional from Day 1" while speaking with Dax Shepard on his 'Armchair Expert' podcast.
During her marriage to Howard, which lasted from 2001 to 2005, Union admitted that she "felt entitled" to adultery and was "hungry for validation and having certain kinds of guys like [her] and want [her]." "In our first marriage, neither one of us felt like the marriage should get in the way of our dating," Union said, after Shepard expressed "complicated" feelings regarding his own past infidelity in romantic relationships.
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"A part of it was like keeping up with his activities, like, 'Oh, that's what you're doing? You're going to feel this one,' and I just felt entitled to it as well," Union told Shepard about Howard. "I was paying all the bills, I was working my a** off, and I felt like that's what comes, the spoils of riches." "Like my dad before me, whoever has the most gets to do whatever the hell they want is what I thought," she added. "It was just dysfunctional from Day 1." "I wish I had more guilt for some of that," she said of her past infidelity, adding, "It was such a stupid relationship that should have never got out of the dating phase."
"In hindsight, yes, I absolutely needed something from them that I was not providing for myself, and neither was my marriage, but I think I provided something for them too." She added, "Guys can be just as big as groupies - if not more - than women, so it was a trade off. We were both crappy people going through s*** and clearly not going to enough therapy." Union and Howard also sought couple's counselling, and the Nebraska native recalled that one of the therapists advised them that they "probably look for a way to amicably dissolve, because you have not one thing in common, no morals, no values. The only thing you have in common is other people, so why don't you just go be with other people?"
Union married Howard, a former running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars, in 2001, after meeting at a party in Jacksonville, Florida in 1999. The couple divorced in November 2005, after four years of marriage. The 'Bring It On' star is now married to former NBA player Dwyane Wade since 2014.