Gabrielle Union Says She Still Has Anxiety About Finances: 'I Get Nervous'

Gabrielle Union recently shared that she still struggles with anxiety surrounding her finances. 

The veteran actor, who is married to retired NBA great Dwyane Wade, admitted that she has a “scarcity mindset” in a sit-down interview with Bloomberg last week. 

Asked when she first felt security in her career, Union responded that she still struggles with the notion of security: “I think I just have more responsibilities for my money.”

“So I get nervous, like, ‘Oh God that movie didn’t open, what does that mean? Am I going to have enough to hold everybody up?’” she said, adding that people around her try to reassure her.

“I’m trying to find peace in the journey, not using my anxiety and scarcity mindset to be my engine, which is hard.”

Union later added, “There’s always this gorilla on your back that is like, ‘You better work, bitch, you better work, you better work. You’re going to sleep in? Somebody might not eat.’”

“It’s hard to let that go, so I’m working on that,” she said. 

Union’s remarks about her financial fears may be surprising since she is a high-profile actor, producer, author and entrepreneur with investments in several companies. She has also co-founded a number of brands, including Proudly, a baby care brand. 

Elsewhere in the interview with Bloomberg, Union discussed her entrepreneurship and emphasized that she aims to make business decisions that are “in alignment with my soul.”

During an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in September, Union said that she and Wade created Proudly together due to a “gross lack of products, quality safe products, that centered the needs of melanated children.”

In a 2020 profile for Time, activist Tarana Burke celebrated Union for leveraging her celebrity status and resources “for the culture on a regular basis.” Time listed Union as one of the “100 Most Influential People of 2020.”

“She isn’t just ‘influencing’; she is intentionally directing her attention, influence and resources to advance an agenda that deliberately celebrates the most marginalized among us, including Black women and girls and queer and trans folks,” Burke wrote.