The truth has finally come out: it was Gabrielle Union‘s fault that the infamous Banana Boat photo ever happened.
Union has been on a tear to promote her new book, and that means appearing on talk shows and giving interviews about all kinds of different topics. She appeared on Vice’s Desus and Mero on Thursday night in a hilarious interview where Union covered a lot of ground, including revealing that she was the force of peer pressure that made the photo happen.
If you don’t recall, the infamous Banana Boat photo came out while a group of NBA superstars were in vacation together. Union was on the front of the banana boat, with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Paul behind her.
https://twitter.com/desusandmero/status/926290350812971009
Mero brings up the “Banana Boat crew at about the four minute mark of otherwise NSFW video, and Union immediately wants to set the record straight.
“Well, first of all: I was on the Banana Boat. See, look here,” Union said, as the photo popped up on screen. Union wanted to make it clear she was on there because Carmelo Anthony is often considered a member of the crew, but she wants everyone to know that he’s not even involved in this photo.
“They always put Mel on the boat, but him and La hadn’t arrived yet,” she said. “It was my idea to get in the banana boat. They all fought it. And I had to convince them that ‘Who’s going to see this?'”
The answer that that question, as the hosts pointed out, was “the entire internet.”
We know it’s true because it’s also something she said on an episode of the YouTube series Hot Ones, in which she also tells a story about taking Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley to a pride parade. In the video there, Union also points out that none of the women they were vacationing with wanted to go on the boat, either.
“I will take credit for the banana boat fiasco,” Union said. “I saw that banana boat and I wanted to ride it…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.”
So Union really did facilitate this whole thing. And an important part of NBA lore is finally solved.
