Gabrielle Union Shares Humiliating Hot Flash Horror Story
Her sweat, ‘coming down like sheets,’ prompted concern from fellow celebrities.
Theo Wargo/FilmMagic
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Actress Gabrielle Union, 53, opened up about sizzling at the Met Gala in the worst possible way. While attending the annual fashion event, Union found herself plagued with perimenopausal hot flashes.
Union, known for her roles in Bring It On and 10 Things I Hate About You, shared the story of her overheated evening with A-listers during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.
“Do you have any hot flash stories?” host Jenna Bush Hager asked.
Union confirmed she did, recalling a story from the 2025 Met Gala, the yearly black-tie fête helmed by Vogue’s former editor in chief, Anna Wintour.
Gabrielle Union wore a Prada gown for the 2025 Met Gala, celebrating 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' on May 5, 2025, in New York City.
TheStewartofNY/GC Images
“I’m there, at our [Met Gala] table,” the actress said. Seated with Union and husband Dwyane Wade are musical artist Bad Bunny, model Gigi Hadid, and actresses Sydney Sweeney, Maya Hawke, and Hunter Schafer.
Union continued, “And it’s a long night, right? There’s the event, then the after party, then the after party, then the after party.”
She explained that, on most nights, the couple is “watching Lottery Dream Home by 8 o’clock,“ usually falling asleep after Kaavia, their 7-year-old daughter.
“I’m like, ‘Let me get a little espresso.’ Well, cue the flop sweat!” Union said. “And [Wade] goes, ‘Baby, you are sweating, you’re sweating!’ And I go, ‘I know! I know!’”
Panic soon took over, and her fellow tablegoers grew concerned.
Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington, and Nnamdi Asomugha at the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2025.
Cindy Ord/MG25/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
“Bad Bunny goes, ‘Are you okay?!’ And I can’t stop it. It’s just coming down in sheets, and everyone starts handing me their napkins,” she said.
To add insult to injury, Union looked across the table, “and there’s Sydney Sweeney, just dry.”
“It’s like one of those moments where you’re like, ‘I don’t want to have a hot flash in front of supermodels and the biggest rockstar on the planet.’ They’re handing me their napkins, and I’m like, ‘It’s okay, nothing to see here!’ I was dying,” Union said.
She added, “It was literally the worst-case scenario.”
Bad Bunny at the Met Gala, 2025.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
So, why share her feverish experience now? “I’m just encouraging people, don’t be embarrassed,” Union explained. “There’s a point where you’ve just gotta laugh it off. I didn’t laugh a lot that night, but later when I was retelling the story, I was like, ‘This is actually kind of funny.’”
Union recently partnered with Bayer on its “Life Doesn’t Stop for a Hot Flash” campaign for the drug Lynkuet, a treatment that addresses menopause-related hot flashes.
“[The campaign] is about bringing more attention to menopause and change of life that half the population will go through,” she told the Today hosts. “Father time is undefeated. It’s going to happen. We shouldn’t feel shame or alone or isolated. We should talk about it, and especially to our doctors.”