Support can go a long way, and for Gabrielle Union, the support of stars like Tisha Campbell was transformative. During the early stages of her career, Union recalls the “Martin” star paying for her therapy sessions—a story she’s been very open about through the years.
“Tisha and her then-husband had invited us up for a 4th of July at Big Bear Lake. And it’s like all the successful Black people. It was like Eric LaSalle was the most successful Black actor on TV at the time on ‘ER.’ And he had this huge house on the lake, the biggest house on the lake. We all took a little extra pride in that,” Union detailed during the American Black Film Festival last year.
“Even in this rarefied air that I had found myself in, there was a sadness that was on me. And Tisha was like, ‘I don’t think you’re okay. Do you need help?’ And I just broke down. And she was like, ‘I will pay for…’ I think it was like 20 sessions of therapy, which, out of your insurance… That’s a massive gift to give someone. And it was the gift that saved my life and got me to finally choose me.”
That gift, Union says, connected her with the therapist she still works with today. The “Bring It On” actress reflected on Campbell’s impact again in a recent conversation with Angie Martinez.
“I’m so lucky that my OG’s took my sanity and protecting me very seriously,” she shared, citing Campbell, Tichina Arnold, and Regina King as her OGs. “They just took their privilege, and they put a bubble around me and so many of us. They used their privilege as protection when not everybody was doing that.”
Days later, while interviewing Campbell, Martinez asked the “My Wife and Kids” star about what motivated that decision so many years ago. Unaware of Union’s past experience with sexual assault, Campbell explains the decision was fueled by a God-given instinct.
“Let me just say this, I saw the potential in Gab. She was working her butt off, but I knew she was going to be even bigger than what we were witnessing at that moment,” she shared. “And so, I wanted her to have support because this business can be so crazy. It’s just that I wanted her to be able to navigate this business. So I paid for like 10 sessions, and I said, ‘I really want you to see this therapist, and you mean a lot. You know, you’re gonna be big.’”
“Anybody can see an ‘it’ factor. And she had it. She had that ‘it’ factor, that X factor. And I knew she was going to be huge…I just think that she needed to be supported, and I like to support my sisters,” she concluded.
