Gabrielle Union has taken full responsibility for the now-infamous banana boat photo that was taken of her, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Paul back in the summer of 2015. She has spoken in the past about how she was the one who convinced everyone to get on the banana boat in the first place, and she spoke about it again on the latest episode of Hot Ones.
"I will take credit for the banana boat fiasco," she said at around the 10:30 mark of the episode. "The first year that we started going on the couples' trip, LeBron and [his wife] Savannah, they chose the boat and they chose the location and that boat had all kinds of bells and whistles. There was like a three-story slide into the ocean. They had jet-skis. And then they had other inflatable toys that could be pulled behind this smaller boat…So I saw that banana boat and I wanted to ride it...So I was like, 'Okay, who’s coming with me?' And none of the girls wanted to go. So I had to try to convince Bron and D and CP to get on the banana boat. It took some convincing. Though we had not been photographed, everyone was convinced that we were being surveilled. And I was like, 'No, not everybody cares about us, you guys! No one is gonna see us! And if no one got us coming down the slide or dancing or whatever, we’re safe. Get over yourselves.'"
But Union also took things a step further and touched on something people might not know about the banana boat. While everyone has seen the photo of the banana boat crew sitting on the boat, most people don’t realize that they didn’t stay on the boat for very long. Somehow, the paparazzi didn’t capture it, but all four of them ended up going face-first into the water right after the boat that was towing them took off.
"What they did not capture, which was actually the best part, was once we mounted the banana that boat took off—and no one was really prepared," she said. "We were there for the initial jolt and then he hung a hard left and we flew off and landed face-first. All of us were like, 'Fuck, fuck, fuck!' Like, that’s all you heard in the water. It hurt. It was painful. But magically, they only got us astride."
Additionally, Union revealed that she caught heat from the banana boat crew for the rest of their vacation after the photo of them went viral.
"As soon as the picture came out—because we were still on vacation when the picture was released—I was that asshole," she said. "'Really?! No one is gonna see it, huh?!'"
Elsewhere in the interview, Union spoke about how Wade trusts LeBron more than his own wife when it comes to ordering food at restaurants. She said LeBron has convinced Wade to try things he refused to eat when she attempted to get him to do it.
"Literally, my husband did not eat anything green or any seafood, like, at all for the bulk of our marriage. And then, Bron comes, they become the Heatles, and suddenly, he’s like, 'I love sea bass! I’ve always loved sea bass!' No, no, you didn’t," she said. "You didn’t love sea bass. Where did you even hear of sea bass? He’s like, 'Bron. He made me eat sea bass and I love it now.' And I’m like, 'What else has Bron introduced?' And he’s like, 'Salad.' So thanks, Bron."
She also touched on the time she did some day-drinking with Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley, tried to explain why NBA players love Cheesecake Factory so much, and pulled off a DMX impression for the ages. Check out Union's full Hot Ones appearance above.
