Gabrielle Union Recalls Bad Bunny Asking ‘Are You Okay?’ During Extreme Hot Flash at the Met Gala: ‘I Was Dying’

Gabrielle Union is sharing one of the worst hot flashes she’s experienced in public.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, the actress made an appearance on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle and said she wants to have more candid conversations about navigating menopause. The 53-year-old then recalled a funny — yet embarrassing — moment when she had a bad hot flash at the 2025 Met Gala.

“I’m there, at our table is Bad Bunny sitting across from me, Gigi Hadid sitting next to him, Sydney Sweeney, Maya Hawke, Hunter Schafer…me and my husband [Dwyane Wade],” she began.

“And it’s a long night, right? There’s the event, then the after party, then the after party, then after party. Well, we normally go to sleep after [daughter Kaavia] goes to sleep. We are watching Lottery Dream Home by 8 o’clock,” she quipped. “I’m like, let me get a little espresso. Well, cue the flop sweat! And D goes, ‘Baby, you are sweating, you’re sweating!’ And I go, ‘I know!’”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Union said she started to panic, not wanting to experience a hot flash in front of so many younger stars.

“What do I do? In front of these people?! All of the sudden I look up and Bad Bunny goes, ‘Are you okay?!’ And I can’t stop it. It’s just coming down in sheets,” she said. “Everyone starts handing me their napkins. And I look over — 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,” she continued. “They’re handing me their napkins and I’m like, ‘It’s okay, nothing to see here!’ I was dying. It was literally the worst-case scenario.” 

Union said the moment made her realize that she wants to encourage other women not to be embarrassed by navigating menopause because it’s a natural transition.

“There’s a point where you’ve just gotta laugh it off,” she said. “I didn’t laugh a lot that night but later when I was re-telling the story, I was like, ‘This is actually kind of funny.’”