ESSENCE’s September issue cover girl Gabrielle Union has a message for all of the “haters”—bring it on! With a new sci-fi gig and a turn as a producer in the works, as well as finding a new love, the Hollywood starlet is busy reinventing her brand and enjoying the ride. But, as she tells ESSENCE in the article Living My Life, it’s the recent gossip about her love life from bloggers—claiming that she’s done everything from given birth to partying with a different man on her arm each night—that hurts the most. However she’s not backing down, and now tells ESSENCE how she is fighting back. Here's a sneak peek of our cover story by ESSENCE West Coast Editor Regina R. Robertson:

Though Union's last big-screen appearance was in "Meet Dave" a year ago, when it comes to what we see of her on our computer screens, there's no telling where she might pop up. If left to their own devices—and their unidentified sources—bloggers would have us convinced that she's at every party, from New York to L.A., with a different man on her arm each night.

But there is one falsehood in particular that really hurt. "There's a DJ who swears that Boris Kodjoe and I had some sort of thing," she explains. "It's not true, but what really sucks is that when Boris went on the radio show to talk about raising money and awareness for spina bifida and for a treatment to save his daughter, all they wanted to talk about was made-up gossip."

For our complete interview with Gabrielle and details on her love life, pick up the September issue of ESSENCE on newsstands everywhere.

See Gabby's photo diary »

Go inside the September cover issue »