Gabrielle Union Shares Hilarious Story About Explaining Eggplant Emojis To 'Blessed' Husband Dwyane Wade

gabrielle union jimmy kimmel screenshot

Bring It On and L.A.’s Finest actress Gabrielle Union has been married to NBA star Dwyane Wade for seven years now, and they share one child together. Not every couple is made up of two people who are famous and well-established in totally different fields, and based on some recent comments from Union, their relationship is rock solid… even though she did have to enlighten her NBA husband about the meaning behind eggplant emojis.

As anybody immersed in the pop culture world probably knows by now, the eggplant is the emoji used to represent a penis without explicitly saying it, and people can get pretty creative with it. According to Gabrielle Union in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dwyane Wade’s preference for a certain kind of clothing and cruising comments sections have meant that she had to enlighten him. She said:

He’s probably like a large, extra large, but he likes a shmedium. He likes a slim fit. And the thing about a slim fit pant, if you are a blessed person, a blessed gentleman… I was like, ‘A lot of information there with that slim fit, with that particular cut. I can see your heartbeat.' … I will give him a heads up that it could be a problem. He rarely listens. Then he’s like, ‘What is the eggplant emoji and why is that in my comments?’ … He knows now! And I think that’s the goal. I think the goal is to have his comment section filled with [eggplant emojis].

Well, not everybody can know everything when it comes to emoji etiquette, but Dwyane Wade is now up on the meaning of the eggplant when it comes to his comment section thanks to Gabrielle Union. As somebody who works more in the showbiz side of entertainment as opposed to sports, it makes sense that Union would be more tuned in to what people on social media are saying.

After all, Gabrielle Union has a lot of fans herself, going all the way back to the late ‘90s and early 2000s thanks to projects like 10 Things I Hate About You, Bring It On, and Bad Boys II, and she even recently spoke out about her regrets for how she played her Bring It On character opposite Kirsten Dunst. (She has also had encouraging things to say about a Bring It On sequel, though!)

Throw in Gabrielle Union’s small screen roles on Becoming Mary Jane and L.A.’s Finest on top of her brief but very memorable stint as a judge on America’s Got Talent, and Union has every reason to be tuned in to pop culture. Husband Dwyane Wade evidently wasn’t tuned in enough to know the meaning of the eggplant emoji, but it’s entertaining to know that he’s definitely not mad about finding that emoji in his comments. Social media comment sections aren’t always pretty for famous people, after all!

It can be fun to get a window into the lives of celebrities, whether they’re stars of the large and small screen like Gabrielle Union or NBA stars like Dwyane Wade, and Union shared some entertaining trivia about their marriage for fans to enjoy.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).