The actress previously shared that she and her husband split bills evenly in their household, which received mixed reactions.
Gabrielle Union isn't worried about what others have to say about her marriage. Despite online backlash after sharing that she and her husband, Dwyane Wade, split bills evenly in their household during an interview with Noah Callahan-Bever on his Bloomberg Originals series, Idea Generation, the actress is doubling down on the information.
While chatting with ET's Kevin Frazier about commemorating her 50th birthday last year with an intimate trip through several countries in Africa, from the island of Zanzibar to the coast of Ghana to the parks of Namibia and the nightlife of South Africa, and documenting her journey, Union confirmed that she really does goes dutch with her husband on their big finances.
"I took 100 percent of his points. So, we didn't go 50-50 on that. That was 100 percent of his miles," she jokes, laughing, before confirming that the pair do split their bills evenly.
"Yeah. He would be like, 'Everything?' I'm like, 'OK, the big stuff. The big stuff,'" she adds. "Fifty-fifty except his miles and points, which I took 100 percent of. He had to pay for this trip, it was amazing."
Union and Wade have been married since Aug. 30, 2014. The couple shares 4-year-old Kaavia James, as well as Wade's 20-year-old son, Zaire, 15-year-old daughter, Zaya, and 8-year-old son, Xavier.
Union went viral back in May, when she revealed her and Wade's decision to split their finances. The actress and producer went on to explain that she still has a "scarcity mindset" with her money from when she was trying to make it in Hollywood.
"But in the other households that each of us have to support, there's always this, like, gorilla on your back, that's like, 'You better work, b**ch, you better work. Oh, you're going to sleep in?' You know, somebody might not eat," she explained. "I struggle with that, still. I think I just have more responsibilities for my money. I get nervous like, 'Oh god, that movie didn't open you know what does that mean? Do I – Am I … Am I going to have enough to hold everybody up?'"
Wade, a retired NBA star, elaborated on their decision during an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast released on Monday. He explained to host Shannon Sharpe that the agreement came after a flippant comment he made to his wife when they lived in Miami.
"I said something about it being my house that I paid for. My wife looked at me and said 'You will never say that to me again when it's something that we share,'" Wade explained. "So when we moved to [Los Angeles], my wife said 'I got half on it [and] you will never say my house again -- you can say that in the arena!'"
Wade went on to share that when it comes to their home, he and Union purchased it together. He also said that "anything that goes on with [Kaavia], 50-50, we share it together."
“We decided that certain pieces of our life, we would share in it,” Wade added.
While he and Union split their finances evenly together, the former Miami Heat player explained that they each continue to provide for their loved ones. "I have 20 to 50 responsibilities and my wife has 20 to 50 responsibilities and when I say that, that means she has her mother, she has her sisters, she has her dad, so she has a lot of things she's responsible for," Wade said. "She pays 100 percent of that and you know what I do? I pay 100 percent of my life."
When it comes to their prenup, Wade said, "I told her the same way, 'I'll sign a prenup too. You're a millionaire, you got money. You work hard for yourself.' "
Obviously, anything goes when it comes to travel points!
The actress was joined by her husband and a group of family and friends for the aforementioned excursion that will be shared with fans in a two-part docuseries special on BET+ titled Gabrielle Union: My Journey to 50.
Journey to 50 is a raw glimpse into Union's world, an intimate exploration that sees her tear down her walls on a new level.
"I had reached a breaking point right before the trip; coming off of The Inspection, how dark that was and where I had to go to get there, and going right into Truth Be Told season 3 that was dealing with sexual brutality of Black and brown girls in the Bay Area," she explains. "It coincided with the 30-year anniversary of my sexual assault as a teenager in the Bay Area. It was just too much. And that was just one too many things on my emotional house of cards -- I was dust by the time I got on the plane to come to Africa."
Union adds that "setting foot on the continent always brought me peace." It was with that mindset that she made the decision to travel there for her momentous birthday.
The Bring It On star reveals that although she and Wade wanted to bring all their children -- the couple shares 4-year-old Kaavia James, as well as Wade's 20-year-old son, Zaire, 15-year-old daughter, Zaya, and 8-year-old son, Xavier -- their various schedules prevented everyone from making the trip.
"Kaavia was the only one that had no choice," she jokes, going on to add that she knew the trip would be especially poignant with her mother and her daughter along. "Having the [multiple] generations go to Africa [and] experience it at the same time... I wanted to see it, having my mom there and my daughter, who at the time was three, experiencing the same rebirth and being open to it. That's the best gift anyone could ever give me or I could ever receive."
"And she's so free. Her and Zaya both are free Black girls, and that is all I want," Union adds. "If I have done nothing else, I will raise some free Black girls who are only limited by their own imagination. And that's what you see in this docuseries. Kaavia James at 3 years old, she turned four during the trip, and you're gonna see her have her big strong opinions and you're going to see her be her full self and that we don't try to force her to be chips off the old block."
Alongside Kaavia, Union and Wade were joined by, Gabrielle's mother, Theresa, her Aunt Katie, niece Chelsea, and sister Tracy, along with Adair Curtis, Essence Atkins, Angie Martinez and more.
The docuseries takes fans along with Union as she makes new connections with history, her legacy as a star, mother, wife and Black woman, and forms global fellowship through her joy in life.
"A lot of my relatives and a lot of my friends didn't make it out of their 30s, so 50 felt like, 'Oh. Oh, yikes.' I left there like, 'Oh, my grandma lived to be 110, I have so much more time left,'" Union recalls. "And I feel like a teenager. I feel young, I feel open to learning. There's that point where you kind of start to close the lid on yourself, like you become [a] little know-it-all. I like to think I'm a learning person but know nothing, and when you humble yourself you can learn a lot more."
She adds, "When you zip it, your ears absorb things that your heart didn't know were possible. And I'm just trying to be open to everything for the next 50 or 60 years."
Gabrielle Union: My Journey to 50 is now available to stream on BET+.
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