Actress Gabrielle Union 'OK' With Rape Victims' Sitting Out Nate Parker's 'Birth of a Nation'
"I support you if you don't want to see the film," Gabrielle Union said.
— -- Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" didn't fare all that well at the box office this weekend, opening with just over $7 million in its first three days, according to Forbes.
The film arrived with baggage tied to its director and star, Parker, after the 36-year-old had to answer questions this summer about his past.
He was accused of raping a fellow classmate while attending Penn State in 1999. He was later acquitted, but it recently came to light that his accuser committed suicide in 2012.
Gabrielle Union, 44, who appears in the film, has always been candid, hoping to inspire others, about being a victim of rape at 19.
She penned an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times last month, saying of Parker, "I cannot take these allegations lightly." She was interviewed for the November issue of Essence and appears on its cover.
In the interview, which hits newsstands Friday, she says, "As a rape survivor and as an advocate, I cannot shy away from this responsibility because the conversation got difficult. I don't want to put myself above anyone's pain or triggers."
Union says she supports all victims and survivors of sexual assault and understands if they don't rush to theaters to see "The Birth of a Nation."
"I support you if you don't want to see the film. I absolutely understand and respect that. I can't sell the film," she told the magazine, adding that should would recommend separating the art from the man "if I weren't in the movie."
She mentions her female co-stars in "Nation," adding, "This movie has always been about more than one person, and for the outspoken feminist advocates and allies who risked a lot to be a part of this project — Aja Naomi King, Aunjanue Ellis, Penelope Ann Miller — we are OK if you have to sit this one out, and we're OK if you don't, and we understand."
Union stressed that it's up to moviegoers to decide whether the film is worthwhile, reflecting statements she made in her op-ed about the controversy surrounding Parker.
"Regardless of what I think may have happened that night 17 years ago, after reading all 700 pages of the trial transcript, I still don't actually know," she said of the 1999 alleged rape.
