Gabrielle Union on how she overcame being raped at gunpoint aged 19

February 24th, 2014, 08:52 pm

Gabrielle Union on how she overcame being raped at gunpoint aged 19

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Gabrielle Union opened up about how she overcame being raped at gunpoint aged 19 on The View this morning, encouraging others who have been through the same not to wear the 'victim hat.'

The 41-year-old actress, who is set to wed her 32-year-old NBA player beau Dwyane Wade this year, told viewers: 'When something catastrophic happens in life everyone rallies around you but it's not for something positive and I hated that.

'I hated feeling like a victim, it makes you lazy. I wanted to embrace being a survivor. I was raised to be an independent woman. That's the road I decided to take.'

The Being Mary Jane star added that she was 'lucky' the ordeal happened in an affluent area, because the 'under-worked' police department and rape crisis center were quick to respond.

But she said her 'power' really came back when she successfully sued Payless ShoeSource for negligence

It was in one of the footwear brand's California stores where the incident took place. Ms Union had taken a summer job there and was just closing up when a man robbed the shop and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint.

It later transpired that her attacker had actually been a former employee of another Payless store which he had robbed, and where he had also raped another employee. The man was charged criminally and finally sentenced to 33 years in prison, and Ms Union won her negligence lawsuit against Payless.

Concluding on the subject, Ms Union warned parents to check out the criminal history of businesses before sending their children off to work there. After she managed to find strength with the help of friends, family and counselors, the Nabraska native returned to the University of California in Los Angeles graduating with a degree in sociology.

However, after interning at a model and talent agency she went on to enter the world of show business. Among her notable roles is as a cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the 2000 film Bring It On and as Syd in the blockbuster Bad Boys II. She is currently the star of the drama series, Being Mary Jane.

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Tagged: gabrielle union

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omg that is so terrifying :(

wow I had no idea this is horrible :(

omg what :(

I honestly thought everyone knew. Whenever I see her, all I think about is how brave she is. She has the ultimate control over her attacker. Bless her <3

I think of the same thing every time I see a post about her. I didn't realize so many people here didn't know that something so horrible happened to her.

(no subject) -

beatlesluv Expand

Same. That's what makes it especially hard for me to watch her performance in Daddy's Little Girls after it's revealed why Idris' character goes to jail.
I feel as if she's mentioned this in previous interviews....

I remember reading an interview/article she did about it in a teen magazine, right at the height of her popularity. Always thought it was so brave and kickass of her to talk about it publicly while she was still a young star.

Yeah it was one of the first things I found out about her. Surprised more people don't know.

mjspice

horrific :(

I saw this morning…she's so inspiring.

20727

Jesus.

I'm happy everything worked out for her.

I wish every victim would get justice like she did.

Jesus. Thankfully her attacker was punished.

Men are the devil

Send them to the moon

......with no spacesuits

rapists should be castrated

not helpful imo.

takobella Expand

aschvanzandt Expand

its not only men
but i do agree, they [rapists and sexual harassers] should all be killed

(no subject) - (Anonymous) Expand

both genders have their fair share of evil

I don't get out much, either.

lol at some of these replies ok guys

carbons Expand

Rapists do not deserve a free trip to the moon, spacesuit or no. The moon is too awesome.

Now, Venus on the other hand...

~~Men~~ Rapists are the devil

She told the whole story on Oprah (?) years ago, I remember.

i remember watching that episode

Yea exactly

That's how I know about it too.

I hated feeling like a victim, it makes you lazy

no, it really doesn't. That being said I'm glad for her that she found justice and got to see her attacker punished appropriately.

Yeah idg what she is saying here

She said feeling like a victim. I think the phrasing is poor but she seems to be saying that feeling like a victim made her unable to focus on other things and use her time constructively.

A lot of people confuse depression for laziness. Let's forgive her ignorance in this case.

That's her experience though so in her case perhaps yes it did.

as other people have pointed out in this post, she didn't say me, she said you

polekatz Expand

hahahey Expand

Eh personally I know a lot of folks back home who use their race/class as an excuse to play the victim and never do anything with their lives(ie "the I am a brokeass Indian so its the system's fault I pump gas" types). Depression can play into that kind thinking of but you can still get take control and treat your depression and not be a victim. Which is I think more what she means its just not stated all that clearly.

scifiaddict86 Expand

effervescent Expand

michelle0187 Expand

I think I get what she was trying to say. For some people, being the victim means that there's nothing you can do, which leads they don't even try.

that comment sounded like the quintessential 'recovered' survivor belief.

Edited at 2014-02-25 04:29 am (UTC)

Ia that was very cringey

That's really awful that this happened to her.

However, I'm a little confused why Payless was at fault. I understand she was working but in what ways were they negligent?

(no subject) - (Anonymous)

yeah i don't know. If he raped someone at the other store, I mean, what can payless do besides fire him? The law should have addressed him. I assume it was reported to police if it was on record, unless that victim came out after the fact?

There should always be management there to lock up a store, IMO. Especially women shouldn't be left alone at night. I suppose maybe that makes sense for the negligence.

softbeds Expand

idk about the first but idt the second bit is true.... i was like 14 when this store i worked at was asking me to close at 1am. theres no rules to protect ppl from that.. at least not here. i got fired cause i didnt want to work until 1 am considering that there was a stabbing outside the store a week earlier. oh well.

squishinator Expand

anolinde Expand

xathenex Expand

biebusfan Expand

I think bc the dude had attacked another employee and was allowed to work at another store.

I goggled and it seems that she wasn't closing the store by herself. She mentioned in an Oprah interview that she and a co-worker closed so idk why Payless was negligent

A former employee robbed the store and raped another employee, yet they were having a 19-year-old girl close a store alone. Crimes like this are why so many stores have implemented policies where there have to be at least 2 people in a store at all times.

Payless knew and didn't tell other stores in the area/chain what happened.

they may not have had security with her when it happened at another store

It maybe that he used keys or insider knowledge(shift schedules, backdoors, delivery schedules etc) to gain access to the store to which if Payless didn't address that they would be liable.

He had formerly attacked another worker at the location he worked at. In retail, HR and the security are supposed to pass along images of criminals or suspected people to look out for (I was given specs like this when I worked in retail). Also, I think she was left alone in the store to close. So those are two huge things that they were thankfully held responsible for.

She was probably the only one in the store when it happened.
I think there are laws against employees working alone.

Good for her not deflecting from such an important subject. I remember when she testified before Congress about the need for continued legislation to protect rape victims. I really like her.

Was this before or after 10 Things?

I could have made the tired joke if this was before or after Clueless, but I felt with the subject matter here, a joke would be in poor taste.

doing the math, before. she's secretly way older than she looks. she was born in 1972 and 10 Things came out in '99, so she was well into her 20s by then.

I always get her and Aisha Tyler confused, they look so similar to me.

I do too, someone called me racist for admitting that once.

134 comments
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Gabrielle Union on how she overcame being raped at gunpoint aged 19

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