Gabrielle Union recounts her rape ordeal in her new book

IN HER new book, Gabrielle Union opens up about her horrific ordeal when she was sexually assaulted by a man when she was 19 years old.

Gabrielle Union at the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Picture: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

GABRIELLE Union was just 19 years old when she was raped at gunpoint inside a store she worked at.

The Bring It On star, who is now 44, recounts the horrific ordeal in her new book We’re Going to Need More Wine.

“The way my dad looked at me after [he heard what had happened], oh my God, is still a nightmare,” Union writes in the book according to People magazine.

“I sued Payless [the she worked at] for negligence, but I wanted to sue them for my dad looking at me like that. The look was: Damaged. Victim. Guilt. Fear. I was the kid you bragged about. I got great grades. Was the perfect athlete. Blah blah blah. And in that moment, I was damaged.”

Union sued Payless because her attacker had been positively identified by the chain prior to raping the actress after he robbed a different store but they failed to warn employees. The man was caught and was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Gabrielle Union with Kirsten Dunst in Bring it On.

“After I was raped, I didn’t leave my house for a whole year unless I had to go to court or to therapy,” Union writes.

“Twenty-four years later, fear still influences everything I do.”

In her book, Gabrielle Union also opens up about her fertility issues and reveals that she’s suffered a heartbreaking number of miscarriages.

“I have had eight or nine miscarriages,” the actress writes.

“In order to tell you the exact number, I would have to get my medical records. (I am also not sure what the number is. That’s where you start to think I must be nuts for trying.)”

Union is now married to NBA star Dwayne Wade who has three kids from a previous relationship.

NBA player Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union at the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

Originally published as Gabrielle Union recounts her rape ordeal in her new book