The 'Think Like a Man' actress subtly disses Dwyane Wade's ex-wife Siohvaughn as she says in an interview that she took the role of a homophobic mother in 'The Inspection' to get through one 'particular' parent.
- Nov 25, 2022
AceShowbiz - Gabrielle Union has been a supportive parent to her stepdaughter Zaya Wade, but she may have crossed the line with her comment on the girl's biological mother. The actress was called out after she threw a subtle shade at Dwyane Wade's former wife Siohvaughn Wade.
In an interview with Van Lathan, Gabrielle discussed her upcoming movie "The Inspection", in which she plays a mom who rejects her gay son (Jeremy Pope). Asked if she used the backlash she and her husband received over their parenting skills to "ground" herself in the role, she answered, "No, thank God." She added, "In order to do this well I had to not judge her. I had to do this role to be a mirror and have this conversation."
The 50-year-old then appeared to diss Siohvaughn as she said that she took the role for "one parent in particular." She tried to immerse in her character after "hearing from so many people already," while in contrary, "I never saw myself as a villain on my child's story. I saw myself as a hero. And loving your child completely for who they are, I think it's heroic."
When asked who she was referring to when she talked about "one parent in particular," Gabrielle stuttered, "You know, the parent who..." Van then pressed her if she was talking about Zaya's mom, but she didn't give a straight answer.
"There's a parent in particular who has another way of loving our child that doesn't center her needs and her identity," she elaborated instead, while hinting that the "particular" parent is related to one of her and Dwyane's children. "I guess parents were afraid," she added. "And again we think we are being loving, thinking we're loving them by stripping them of their identity."
After a clip of the interview was posted on Van's Instagram page, many users slammed Gabrielle for taking aim at Zaya's mom. "Shes so out of line. Why don't you love your husband's other child," one person reacted.
Another accused her of having hidden "motive," saying, "Gabrielle is coming from a place of motives not love. Not sure what those motives are but it certainly isn't love. You either love all his children or you don't. Now get off social media trying to make this woman out to be some kind of villain because she has an opinion about her own child."
Another blasted the "Think Like a Man" star, "Wow this is so Trash and manipulative of her! Wildly out of line!" A fourth critic said, "Gabrielle shouldn't speak on how Dwayne's child's mother wants to handle her minor child."
Defending Siohvaughn, someone else weighed in, "Boundaries and mutual respect are so important smh. I see ZERO wrong with her mother asking the courts to make her wait until she's 18 - that's all she's asked. Look at Angelina and Brad - Angelina was pushing that the daughter wanted to identify as a boy and now this child is glammed up daily as a girl. Is this situation the same, I don't think so but waiting until you're 18 aka grown isn't gonna hurt either if this is truly what you want."
Dwyane has a disagreement with Siohvaughn after the latter asked a judge to impose an order that would ban their daughter Zaya from legally changing her gender from male to female until she is 18. She accused the former NBA star of exploiting their 15-year-old daughter for financial gain with her gender change.
"I have concerns that (Dwyane) may be pressuring our child to move forward with the name and gender change in order to capitalize on the financial opportunities that he has received from companies," she said in her filing.
Denying her claims, Dwyane said he was "surprised" by Siohvaughn's attempt to fight Zaya's identity" and "drag [his] name through the mud." He said in a statement earlier this month, "I'm very disappointed that she continuously finds ways of centering herself and HER needs, without regard to her children."
"Siohvaughn has decided to pretty much be an absent parent to Zaya ALL ON HER OWN," the 40-year-old clapped back at his ex-wife. "As men, we get a bad rep for not showing up and being absentee fathers, well that's not the case here because I'm ten toes down and I'm still going thru her BS!" he further fumed. "I will not sit on my hands this time and allow her to make mockery of my dedication to my family."
