Inside Halle Berry’s Bitter Legal Feud With Her Ex-Husband

Three months after Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez were officially divorced in 2016, the actress told an audience during a Q&A that she had experienced “a lot of pain and anguish.”

The Oscar-winning actress, now 60, said she had learned how to cope with “three failed marriages,” while acknowledging that the experience was especially difficult “when there’s children involved.”

Almost a decade later, Berry is again locked in a bitter family dispute with Martinez, the father of her 12-year-old son, Maceo.

Martinez, 60, was awarded temporary primary custody after claiming in Los Angeles court documents that Berry had “physically abused” their son by “jumping on him and choking him.” Berry has rejected the allegations as “entirely meritless.”

Under the current court order, Berry is limited to seeing Maceo two days each week and every other weekend while the case awaits an October 16 hearing.

People close to the Catwoman star say the public dispute has left her deeply upset. “Halle is really saddened by the negative information that has gotten out about her, it is a real low blow,” a source told the Daily Mail.

The source added: “Halle has been a great parent who is always there for her kids and gives them a wonderful life.”

The conflict between the former couple, however, has been building for years.

Berry and Martinez separated in 2015, but their divorce was not finalized until 2023 after a prolonged legal battle. As part of the settlement, Berry was ordered to pay $8,000 a month in child support.

She was also required to cover Maceo’s health insurance, therapy, private-school tuition and extracurricular activities, including soccer, as well as 4.3 percent of any annual income exceeding $2 million.

The expensive settlement was expected to end the long-running dispute. Instead, it appeared to intensify tensions between the former spouses.

In 2024, Berry sought sole legal custody, alleging that Maceo was facing academic difficulties, was “grade levels behind” and had been diagnosed with ADHD and mild dyslexia.

In court filings, she claimed Martinez was either “oblivious” to their son’s challenges or “carelessly disregards them,” arguing that his alleged conduct made him unfit to share custody.

Berry further alleged that she had spent more than $200,000 on legal fees, including an $80,000 voluntary contribution toward Martinez’s expenses. She also accused him of using her child-support payments to support himself.

A second source, who has connections to both Berry and Martinez, said the situation has made Berry feel that she is little more than a source of money in matters involving her son and ex-husband.

“Halle feels she is an ATM when dealing with Maceo and Olivier,” the source said. “She believes she gets zero respect and is just there to pay, pay, pay.”

However, the insider said Martinez has a very different view of the ongoing dispute.

‘It is just so sad for Halle, but Olivier believes it is by her own doing and that is why they are where they are at – just a complete dissolution,’ the source said. ‘The stress it is causing is overbearing.’

On Thursday, Martinez was granted a temporary domestic-violence restraining order against Berry, protecting both him and Maceo. Under the order, the actress must remain 100 yards away from her ex-husband.

The filing details a string of alleged flashpoints between the former couple and their son – with Martinez claiming the latest incident prompted him to seek court intervention.

‘Throughout the last year-and-a-half, Ms Berry has wrestled Maceo to the ground and forced him to ‘tap out,” Martinez alleged in court documents.

He further claimed Berry had grabbed their son’s neck from behind when he was not looking and made him ‘tap out’ on multiple occasions – behavior she allegedly described as playful, but which Maceo did not appreciate.

And according to the second source, Martinez believes full custody would be best for their son.

‘Olivier would be overjoyed if he was given full custody of Maceo because he feels that she is unfit being a mom,’ the source said.

‘They both have tempers, but Olivier believes she has crossed a line, and to get their son away from her would be best for all involved.’

The source added that Martinez ‘wants her to see the embarrassment this is causing everyone’ and believes she ‘should accept the consequences.’

However, the first source said the allegations were wildly out of character for Berry.

‘Does she sometimes fight with her kids? Sure, every parent does. But she has never hurt one of her children,’ the insider said, who is close to the star, said. 

They also pointed to Berry’s long-standing anti-domestic-violence advocacy, including her support for the Jenesse Center in Los Angeles.

‘Halle is one of the top supporters of the LA Jenesse Center, which helps prevent domestic violence,’ the source said. ‘She is a huge advocate for them because she has dealt with abuse in her past.’

Berry has previously spoken about witnessing her mother being severely abused by her father as a child, an experience she has said left lasting psychological scars.

She has also said an unnamed former boyfriend ruptured her eardrum during an assault in the mid-1990s, leaving her with approximately 80 percent hearing loss in one ear.

But the painful episode was far from the only turmoil in Berry’s high-profile love life.

Berry’s first marriage, to MLB player David Justice, ended in a 1997 divorce.

Her second marriage, to R&B singer Eric Benet, fell apart after he publicly admitted to sex addiction and infidelity, with the pair separating in 2003.

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And her relationship with model Gabriel Aubry resulted in another bitter, highly public fight after they split in 2010.

Their years-long dispute over daughter Nahla, now 18, was marked by allegations of verbal abuse and racism from Berry in court papers – before tensions erupted into a notorious Thanksgiving Day brawl in 2012 between Aubry and Martinez, then Berry’s fiance.

Aubry alleged in court filings that Martinez approached him after a custody hand-off and launched a violent attack, punching him to the ground, striking him repeatedly and slamming his head into the concrete.

He further alleged Martinez threatened him over a proposed move to Paris, telling him he would be killed if he did not agree.

Aubry was arrested following the confrontation and issued with a restraining order. Martinez was not charged. Later in the year, Aubry was told by prosecutors that he would not face charges. 

Martinez also faced a battery investigation in 2015 after an incident at Los Angeles International Airport, when he was accused of pushing an airport employee with an empty child car seat amid a confrontation with photographers.

Video showed Martinez holding the car seat in front of him as he and Berry moved through the terminal before an employee fell backwards.

The employee was taken to hospital complaining of abdominal pain and later sued Martinez and Berry for $5 million. The case was subsequently settled, while Martinez was not prosecuted.

Now, the pair’s latest courtroom showdown has thrown their already combustible co-parenting relationship back under a microscope.

Martinez’s filing claims the alleged mother-son confrontation began while Maceo was playing a virtual-reality game in his bedroom.

According to Martinez, Berry entered the room and began pushing Maceo in what he initially believed was a joking manner. He claimed Maceo asked her to stop until he had finished the game.

Martinez alleged that Berry then became enraged, telling their son he looked ‘so stupid’ and was ‘such an idiot’ in his VR goggles.

He claimed in the filing the situation then escalated, alleging Berry jumped on Maceo, physically fought with him and grabbed him by the neck while shouting: ‘Who is dominant now?! Who is dominant?’

‘Maceo told me he had to fight back,’ Martinez wrote. ‘Through his efforts, he managed to escape Petitioner’s grip. He started screaming, at which point Petitioner’s boyfriend came into the room.’

Martinez alleged in the petition that Berry’s current fiance, Van Hunt, treated Maceo ‘fair’ and backed the 12-year-old as he packed a bag to leave, after Berry allegedly objected to him taking clothes she had bought.

The filing says Hunt ultimately persuaded Berry to allow Maceo to take the clothes.

Martinez claimed in the filing that he received a ‘frantic call’ from their son that night, asking to be collected ‘right now.’

He said he asked Berry by text whether he could pick Maceo up, with the actress allegedly replying: ‘No I’m not ok with it. He wants to fight his mother?? What kind of kid are we raising.’

Martinez also claimed in the filing that he heard Maceo say he was going to ‘leave forever’ during later calls, while Berry allegedly shouted: ‘Good. Good. I don’t want to see you anymore.’

He alleged his son then sent several urgent messages asking when he would arrive.

When he got to the house, Martinez claimed in the filing that Maceo emerged with Hunt, who was carrying bags of clothes and had a ‘shocked look on his face’ when asked what happened.

Martinez wrote he did not initially press Maceo for details during the car ride, but claimed the boy later described the alleged confrontation.

The following morning, Martinez claimed Berry texted him: ‘Olivier, I’ve reached out to Maceo and asked to speak with him. I know you very much think he makes his own decisions but I would really appreciate it if you would encourage him to speak with me today. I feel terrible about what happened last night as I know he does as well.’

Martinez alleged Maceo no longer wishes to be at Berry’s home and may have been traumatized by the alleged incident.

But Berry’s camp says it is not concern driving Martinez – it is revenge.

‘Olivier has been looking for ways to hurt Halle, and I feel like he is using their son Maceo to do so,’ the first source claimed.

And, the insider said, the actor has never truly let go of the fact that Berry ended their marriage.

‘He never got over that she left him, and it’s like he has been trying to make her look bad ever since,’ the source alleged.

Berry’s attorney, Marina Beck, told the Daily Mail that Martinez’s filing is ‘entirely meritless’ and said the actress is ‘used to this kind of outrageous conduct’ from her ex.

While Berry is ‘deeply saddened’ by the allegations, her attorney said she ‘will not allow it to deter her from fighting for Maceo’s best interests and providing him with the love and support he needs.’

Both sides will have the opportunity to present evidence and make arguments at the October 16 hearing, when the court will decide whether the restraining order should be made permanent and what happens next with custody.

And the pressure could only intensify next year, according to the first source, who claimed Maceo will have a greater say in where he lives once he turns 13.

‘In a year Maceo can tell a judge which parent he wants to live with under California law, so he has rights, and if he wants to use them he should,’ the source said.

But whichever way the legal fight goes, one thing appears clear: the former spouses are nowhere close to a truce.

‘Olivier and Halle hate each other,’ the second source claimed. ‘If they were asked to say something nice about each other, you probably would not be able to force them into saying anything pleasant because they dislike each other so much.’

‘It is beyond strained between them, and if it was not for Maceo, they would literally have nothing to talk about,’ the source added. ‘They never have anything nice to say about each other, ever.’