I feel like every day when I read news about Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry’s custody battle I change allegiances, although lately I’ve been firmly in the “team Nahla, her parents are whacked” camp. This latest story about Halle’s very serious death threats from a stalker has me feeling sorry for her and understanding why she would want to move overseas. (Until I read the counter argument, which is covered below.) Yesterday it looked like Halle was moving to France out of spite because she can’t legally strip Gabriel of visitation rights, but that might just be an added bonus for her. Not only is Halle’s stalker just out of jail, there’s also a crazy dude who wants to kill her (and Madonna) who just escaped from an insane asylum. It sounds like something out of a movie, but then so does most of Halle’s life. Here’s the story, from E!:

E! News has confirmed that the Oscar winner filed a request in family court to be able to move to France with her daughter Nahla because she fears for her life.

Two men, including one convicted of stalking Berry, are no longer locked up and the actress has no interest in finding out what their plans are now that they’re out.

But wait, how did her convicted stalker get out again?

Richard Franco pleaded guilty to stalking Berry and was sentenced to 386 days in jail, but was given credit for 193 days already served and then released Saturday after amassing 193 days’ worth of credits for work and good behavior.

He remains on five years’ probation and there’s a 10-year restraining order in place requiring him to stay away from Berry and her family.

“This person has invaded and trampled upon the most fundamental sense of security I have and I am extremely frightened of him and what he might do to me and those I love,” Berry stated in her criminal complaint against Franco.

Meanwhile, Berry’s camp has been informed that Robert Hoskins, a man who allegedly threatened to slit Berry’s throat—and who also allegedly threatened to slit Madonna’s throat and was shot by the Material Girl’s bodyguard in 1995—escaped from a mental institution last week.

[From E! Online]

Halle has been looking for a more secure mansion in Malibu, according to TMZ. Of course Radar has Gabriel Aubry’s deep thoughts on his custody battle, as per usual. They’re trying to call out Halle on her claims that she’s so scared and are saying that she’s using it as a convenient excuse. This rings true to me, but again I’m thinking that both sides are pushing back too hard and making it much worse than it needs to be.

Berry has formally petitioned to move to France with Nahla and her fiancé, Olivier Martinez, but she is going to have to go to battle with Aubry who has vowed to fight the move. Under current terms of their custody agreement, neither parent can move out of Los Angeles County without the other’s permission.

Aubry is absolutely stunned that Halle is attempting to whisk his daughter to a foreign country. “Gabriel feels that Halle is just being vengeful and vindictive by attempting to move Nahla to France,” an insider close to the situation tells RadarOnline.com.

“First of all, if Halle is concerned for her safety, why is she routinely seen around town without a bodyguard? Yes, she has had several stalkers over the years, but she has a top of the line security system at her house, and she can certainly afford to move to a safer location in Los Angeles in a gated community. Why would Halle want to take the father of her daughter out of her life and move to a foreign country? It just defies logic.”

[From Radar]

We haven’t heard any confirmation that Halle and Oliver are actually engaged, but this story suggests that’s the case. The “source” goes on to say:

“Halle will be getting married for the third time. Gabriel’s lawyers are going to argue that there is nothing to guarantee this marriage will last. What then? Nahla could be uprooted again, she isn’t luggage for heavens sake,” the source tells RadarOnline.com. “She needs her father in her life. Nahla and Gabriel are very, very close. He has always played a major role in Nahla’s life and the fact the Halle is attempting to sever that relationship disgusts him. He feels that Halle is disgruntled because she was unsuccessful in having restraining orders granted against him, and lost her attempts to have his custody of Nahla stripped. The timing of this is very, very suspect. Nahla would be very isolated in France, primarily because the lack of family and friends, and the language barrier.”

[From Radar Online]

I agree that Nahla should stay in LA where she speaks the language and goes to school. It does seem punitive of Halle to want to move overseas at this time, but the argument that she has two homicidal stalkers on the loose is a pretty powerful one.

I would be more on Gabriel’s side if he would just stop talking to the press. He probably doesn’t have any other recourse to all the stories Halle is putting out there, though. Poor Nahla, really.

Here’s Halle out alone and looking annoyed yesterday on 2-9-12. She’s also shown with Nahla and the Nanny on 2-2-12 and with Oliver on 1-29-12. Credit: Osvaldo/FameFlynet Pictures. Gabriel Aubry is shown with Nahla on 2-3-12. Credit: WENN.com

According to TMZ, Halle Berry has requested permission from the judge presiding over her custody case to move from Los Angeles, Cal. to France, where her boyfriend, actor Oliver Martinez, hails from. Halle and Oliver have been living in LA and have staged several happy family photo ops with Halle’s nearly four year-old daughter, Nahla. Halle’s ex, model Gabriel Aubry, is of course under investigation for misdemeanor battery and child endangerment stemming from an incident about two weeks ago in which a nanny alleges that Aubry pushed her. Halle lost a bid to have Gabriel stripped of all visitation rights while the investigation is underway. If Halle gets her way and is allowed to move to France with Nahla, she could be able to achieve what she’s after and make it incredibly hard for Gabriel to see his daughter.

Reports have Aubry triumphant in last weeks’ court ruling, although Child and Family Services has been recommending he have supervised visitation for now. We’ve also heard that he’s been ordered to anger management classes, that counseling has been recommended for both Halle and Nahla, and that Halle and Gabriel have been advised to take parenting classes together. Here’s the latest story from TMZ:

Halle Berry is asking the judge in her custody war for permission to move to France with Nahla — and baby daddy Gabriel Aubry is saying … over my dead body.

TMZ has learned Halle filed papers with the court requesting the move and the hearing is pending. Sources tell us Gabriel is livid because he believes the move is punitive and designed to strip him of any contact with his daughter.

And Gabriel is particularly upset because Halle’s longtime boyfriend Olivier Martinez will be living with Halle and Nahla if the move is approved … informed sources tell TMZ.

Halle could have an argument that it’s safer for Nahla to be in Europe … especially because her latest stalker — who broke onto her property multiple times — has recently been released from jail.

[From TMZ]

That stalker argument is a weak one. We’re talking about Halle Berry, who can afford a state of the art security system and ’round the clock security guards. She can build a fence if she wants.

I was somewhat on Halle’s side when we first heard this latest news about Gabriel. It seemed like all those stories about his explosive temper might be true. Now I see the other side a lot more clearly. This is a petty move by Halle meant to pull rank and show Gabriel that she’s serious about keeping their daughter away from him. I wouldn’t put it past her to have pulled the nanny’s strings that led to this whole issue. I’m not saying that Gabriel isn’t to blame for his temper, or that he’s not as much in the wrong. It just seems like there’s much more to this story. I’m sure we’ll read the other side on Radar sometime today.

Gabriel is shown with Nahla on 2-3-12. Halle is shown picking Nahla up from school with the nanny on 2-2-12. Credit: WENN.com

Something weird is happening. Over the past few days, we’ve gotten new photos of Gabriel Aubry and Nahla, out and about in LA, AND new photos of Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez, out and about in LA. Shock of all shocks, Halle and Olivier are still together and Halle let him out of his chains (seriously, where does he go when he’s not around?). I feel like these competing photo ops are a sign of future craziness in the year to come.

Over the past year, we were gifted with the motherlode of cray-cray from the ongoing custody battle for Nahla Aubry. Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry broke up more than a year ago, but it was in January and February of this year that everything got dialed up to BALLS-OUT CRAY-CRAY. There was a ton of back-and-forth in the media, with Radar acting as Team Aubry and TMZ acting as Team Berry. Gabriel Aubry was accused of racism, and being verbally abusive to Halle and Nahla, and Halle told the courts that Gabriel didn’t deserve to spend time with Nahla without some kind of third-party involvement. Gabriel’s side was basically saying that Halle is crazy, that she harassed him, and that she would do anything to get sole custody of Nahla. Oh, and Halle also let everyone know her feelings on race and the “one drop theory” – which was one of our biggest posts of the year.

So what will 2012 bring Gabriel, Halle and Nahla? I hope that Gabriel’s custodial rights as Nahla’s father are increased, and I hope that Halle brings the crazy once again whenever Olivier manages to get out of his chains and run for help. Seriously, how is Halle able to maintain the relationship with Olivier? Don’t say “she’s beautiful” or “crazy sex”. At some point, Olivier will get tired of that, and when it ends, it will be a hot mess.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

The last time I saw Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez together, it was a month and a half ago and she was trotting him out, hostage style, for the first paparazzi-friendly outing they had done in a few months. Since that mid-June outing, I’ve seen photos of Olivier spending quality time with Nahla, but not Halle. Looks like he agreed to another outing, though, this time with Halle, Nahla and a woman I think (?) is Halle’s mom. So, what does this all mean?

Even though Halle continues to prove me wrong by continuing to do these outings with Olivier, I’m still unconvinced as to their “love match”. I think for Olivier, the sex was good and he grew to care about Halle and Nahla both, but as the months went on, Halle’s full-on cray-cray revealed itself and Olivier is just sticking with Halle through their film’s promotion. And this film, Dark Tide, still doesn’t have a release date! Poor Olivier. He’s going to be stuck with Crazy for months!

By the way, the (budget) trailer for Dark Tide was finally released.

Eh. It looks… not good.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Well, I was wrong. My sixth sense failed me. Or did it? DUN-DUN-DUN. A few days ago, I got a spooky feeling that Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez were dunzo. They hadn’t been pap’d together for nearly more than a month. Well, Olivier hadn’t been seen at all for more than a month, and I thought he might have bolted, or he could have been shackled in Halle’s dungeon (you never know). But Halle and Olivier stepped out yesterday, looking… er, not exactly happy. In some of these photos, I swear Olivier is being led, hostage-style, at gunpoint. So I’ll admit that I wrong, but I’ll also take credit for this perp-walk. Perhaps Halle figured it was time to do a photo op and her crazy ass demanded that Olivier walk with her in front of cameras. OR ELSE.

What does this mean? Perhaps it’s like Halle said to Gabriel Aubry, in a conversation he allegedly, secretly recorded – Halle views this relationship as “business”. She and Olivier are “together” for as long as it takes to get their film Dark Tide out and promoted, and then they’ll not-so-quietly split and suddenly we’ll hear from Team Halle about how Olivier is a terrible, racist, abusive monster?

All I know is that this doesn’t really look like a couple in love. Oh, and Halle’s hair is much too short. I don’t like this new haircut.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

Halle Berry did an interview with Extra to help publicize her work with the Jenesse center for abused and battered women and children. (Video above and here.) Halle looked really hot in a lot cut fuschia dress that she wore to a fundraiser for the center over the weekend. Her face was impossibly smooth and glowing. If I could get some injectables, laser resurfacing and Botox and look as supernaturally perfect as Halle I would do it in a heartbeat. I’d probably get the dermatologist who ended up making me look like Jill Zarin, though. Maybe it’s genetics plus injectables though, like some people look more normal after getting work done.

Halle told Terri Seymour about how she helped set up a special room with clothing, art and educational materials at the shelter called “Nahla’s world.” She said that there’s a stigma associated with staying at a shelter but that she wanted to create something aspirational for the women there. Terri asked about Halle’s boyfriend, Oliver Martinez, who went to the fundraising event to support her. Halle got kind of excited and said “he is really proud and you know, he’s inspired. He’s got his own ideas of how he can get involved in the center and help the boys… be sort of a male figure.”

Terri said it’s been a year since she saw Halle at the last fundraiser and asked her what her year has been like. She answered. “It’s been a year full of challenges, but every year seems challenging in one way or another.” As for whether custody is going well she said “It is, and you know what, that’s a relief. When there’s a child involved, it’s a relief when you can resolve things in a good way. Our issues were never about fighting for her, you know? We know that a child needs both parents but I think what I want to say about it is that sometimes as a couple you reach an impasse. We need a court and a judge to help us work out some of the delicate issues, and I’m so happy we’ve arrived at that place… because for her sake, this is the best way. So we’re good… It’s a huge relief, because we both love her more than life.”

Halle talks a good game and you could tell she was being careful about how she phrased things. Extra! reports that this is the first time she’s spoken publicly about her custody battle, and I could have sworn that wasn’t the case. Only Halle has just leaked stories to the press in the past to try and make Gabriel out to be the bad guy. When she finally deigns to talk publicly, she couches everything in vague concepts like she was just an average mom getting a divorce who didn’t exploit her daughter’s normal emotions about her parents splitting up in order to try and malign her ex. She probably feels like she handled it all normally too, because the end result is that she’s reached a peaceful agreement with Gabriel. Rumor has it that he had some real dirt on her and that’s why she was so willing to play nice.

We’ve already heard various tabloid reports about Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez’s relationship straining under the weight of Halle and Gabriel Aubry’s no-longer-balls-out custody battle, not to mention reports of Halle wanting Olivier to be Nahla’s new “daddy”. I remarked during the height of the back and forth between Halle and Gabe that Olivier was probably taking a good, hard look at the woman he was in a relationship with, and examining how she was treating her last love. Of course, men are dumb when they’re screwing a beautiful (crazy) woman, so Olivier hasn’t packed his bags yet. Now In Touch Weekly reports that while Halle and Olivier are still together, they are having issues, and they’ve already gone into therapy.

Halle Berry’s custody battle with her ex Gabriel Aubry is affecting her romance with Olivier Martinez. According to a source, Halle and Olivier are struggling to stay together now that Halle’s in a nasty fight for custody of her daughter, Nahla.

“All of the drama hasn’t helped the relationship,” the source said.

Halle and Olivier were both at the Women In Film pre-oScar cocktail party in LA on February 25.

“He was sitting two couches away, but I never saw them touch or talk or even look at each other once,” a witness says.

According to another source, the couple has consulted a therapist, but a friend says, “They are just fine.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

Here’s the thing: while I’ll believe pretty much any and every crazy story about Halle at this point, Olivier is a blank slate. He comes across as kind of dumb, but he also comes across like he’s down with some hustling, meaning that he knows how to survive and thrive, to a certain extent. If you made me wager money on it, I’d say that Olivier and Halle are together for now, but that Olivier is seriously considering his exit strategies. I also think that Halle and Olivier are both such professionals that they wouldn’t “officially” breakup until they promoting that movie Dark Tide they did together – which doesn’t have a release date as of yet, but will hopefully come out by the end of the year (or whenever Olivier starts blinking out “SOS” when he’s being pap’d).

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.

An Open Letter to Olivier Martinez:

Look, dude. I get it. Halle Berry is hot. She’s beautiful and sexy and her body kicks ass. She’s also crazy. We know this. And I know guys always say crazy chicks are amazing in bed, but at some point, don’t you hit the wall, sexually?

Now, I know you’re not the brightest bulb. But I gave you credit for being smart enough to get out. Some tabloids even had you seriously reconsidering this whole relationship in the wake of this messy, tacky, and tragic custody battle with Gabriel Aubry. I hoped you are already on your way back to France. But no – here you are out with Halle last night. She took you to some pre-Oscar event, and she smiled smugly while you drove her away.

While you may know much more than I will ever know about crazy chicks and how they’re good in bed, here’s something I know: you can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their exes. You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat the father or mother of their children. And you can always go back to the cardinal rule of everything: if someone is trying this hard to convince you of something, you know the opposite is true.

Maybe you’re just sticking around through the awards season. God knows, you could probably use a leg up with some casting directors and producers, and Halle provides an entrance into that part of Hollywood that you weren’t getting before. Are you just screwing her for your career? Are you just holding on so it doesn’t look so obvious that you’re dumping her for being crazy? Are you just holding off because you know The Wrath of Halle will descend and suddenly you’ll find yourself, post-split, being called a racist and an abusive a–hole? Or are you in love? Ugh. I’m so disappointed in you.

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.

Here are new photos of Halle Berry at last night’s premiere of Frankie & Alice, that dumb-looking movie where Halle plays a chick with split personalities – on a be-afro’d cage dancer, the other a old Southern lady who wedding crashes. You can see the trailer here – it looks rough. Rough as in “Halle could do so much better.” Anyway, last night Halle didn’t go for some goddess gown or simple strapless cocktail dress. Instead, she went for this Balmain monstrosity. It’s a brocade suit – and the fabric is super-shiny black and gold. This looks like a shower curtain from a 1970s blaxploitation film. Something nice: beyond the fabric, I really like the cut of the pants. You can tell that Halle actually put some thought into this hideous suit, and that she probably got it tailored.

Halle brought along her French lover too – Olivier Martinez walked the red carpet solo. They’ve been together since at least the end of August, which means they just hit their three month mark. They both look tired and happy – endless French sex can do that. Olivier looks kind of worn down, right? Halle must be a demanding lover.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This is interesting gossip! Back in May, we found out the an up-and-coming actress named Elsa Pataky left her boyfriend Adrien Brody for Olivier Martinez. This was interesting for several reasons, one of which is that Adrien had been so in love with Elsa, he bought her a castle and they posed for cheese-tastic pictures together in the castle, which just goes to show you: never buy a castle for your girlfriend. Anyway, Elsa got loved up with Olivier in a hurry, and all indications are that they are still together.

Don’t tell that to Cameron Diaz, though! Cameron and Olivier have been working together on Knight and Day, the film that Cameron is doing with Tom Cruise and his wedges. I didn’t know Olivier had a part in it, but apparently he does, and apparently he’s also caught the eye of Cameron. She sees something she likes in that rat face!

Cameron Diaz is having the time of her life while shooting Knight and Day in Spain – and it’s all because of her costar, Olivier Martinez. They first met in 2003, when Cameron was considering the Angelina Jolie-role in Taking Lives, “and she’s had a major crush on him ever since,” says a source.

“She thinks he’s incredibly hot!”

So when he arrived on the Seville set in November, Cameron wasn’t shy about asking Olviier to grab a drink with her, the source adds.

“She jumped at the chance to bond with him.” The only problem? Olivier’s on-again/off-again relationship with Elsa Pataky.

“Olivier hasn’t told anyone where that stands,” the source adds. “Cameron doesn’t know anything about Elsa, and no one has the heart to tell her he might actually be taken.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, December 28, 2009]

Hm… something tells me that if Olivier is really interested in Cameron, Elsa is already gone. I don’t think Olivier is the type to think “I made Elsa leave a man who bought her a castle, so I must stay with her, even if Cameron is all up on my grill.” Except, you know, he thinks it in French. The strange thing is that I think Cameron and Olivier would make a really cute couple – although I don’t see the potential relationship lasting very long. But she made it with that rent-a-date dude Paul Sculfor nearly a year, so anything’s possible.

Olivier Martinez and Elsa in Paris on May 14, 2009. Cameron Diaz on the set of ’Knight and Day’ on November 30, 2009. Credit: Bauer-Griffin.