The backstory on this situation could easily be like fifty pages long. I’ll try to hit the highlights, since many of us are aware of Halle Berry’s history specifically. Halle spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting with Gabriel Aubry over their daughter Nahla. Then, years into that custodial and financial dispute, Halle began dating Olivier Martinez. They got married and had a son, Maceo, who is coming up on his 13th birthday in a few days. Olivier and Halle’s marriage barely lasted two years, and then they spent eight years (seriously) fighting over money and custody of Maceo. Early in their split, Halle claimed that Olivier has a temper and that he wasn’t a good father. In 2024, one year after the settled Maceo’s custody and child support (Halle was paying Olivier), Halle filed for sole custody, claiming all kinds of stuff about Olivier. It didn’t work. Well, now Olivier has filed for a temporary restraining order against Halle, claiming that she abused Maceo.
Halle Berry’s ex Olivier Martinez has filed a temporary restraining order against her … alleging child abuse against the 12-year-old son they share … TMZ has learned. Olivier alleges Halle physically abused their son, Maceo, by jumping on him, putting her hands around his neck, and choking him last Saturday.
He claims Maceo called him and claimed Halle had physically attacked him and put him in a chokehold. He says it’s not an isolated incident and there have been previous attacks.
On the same day, Olivier says Halle threatened to have their son deported to France by asking what Maceo is going to do “as a black man” to protect her from being robbed by Olivier … who he claims she called a “white bitch.”
The filing also mentions they were home with her boyfriend Van Hunt and Maceo was playing a VR game with goggles in his bedroom when Halle allegedly entered the room in a rage … and said he looks “so stupid” and is “such an idiot” for playing the game.
The situation allegedly escalated from there … when Olivier claims Halle jumped on Maceo and started physically fighting with him. He says she grabbed Maceo by the neck and started choking him while shouting, “Who is dominant now?!”
The order states she must not drink or be under the influence of alcohol or other substances in the presence of their son. And she must undergo sobriety testing before, during or after any visitation.
Halle allegedly texted Olivier the next day … saying, “I feel terrible about what happened last night as I know he does as well.”
The filing also mentions past incidents … 5 years ago she allegedly struck him in the face. About 10 years ago, Olivier claims Halle had a violent outburst, throwing a plate with a knife and fork on top … and in 2023, while discussing child support, she told Maceo that Olivier was “a white bitch robbing money from a black woman.”
Olivier is requesting sole custody of their son and wants the court to force Halle to stay away from him and their son. But he doesn’t want their son not to have a relationship with Halle … Olivier just wants Maceo to have space after the alleged incident.
Predictably, this is already a huge mess of cross-filings and statements. Soon after all of these reports came out, an LA County judge granted Olivier’s request for a temporary restraining order on Halle, an order protecting both Olivier and Maceo. Halle will basically only have visitation with Maceo during the day, from 10 am to 8 pm, on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. No overnights. Which is an odd framework for a restraining order, but hey, family courts are weird. This order will be in place throughout October, and a hearing is set for later this month. Halle’s lawyer also issued a statement on her client’s behalf:
Halle Berry is firing back at her ex-husband Olivier Martinez after he accused her of abusing their 12-year-old son, and filed for a restraining order … and she’s raising Olivier’s own history of violence.
Halle’s attorney Marina Beck tells TMZ … “To say this filing is entirely meritless and deliberately misleading would be an understatement. There is voluminous evidence, including numerous judicial rulings, that Olivier Martinez repeatedly violated court orders and interfered with necessary therapeutic and educational interventions to the detriment of his and Halle Berry’s minor son Maceo – misconduct for which Mr. Martinez has already been legally sanctioned.”
Beck adds, “In a way, today’s filing is not entirely unexpected from an individual with a well-documented history of erratic, possessive and violent behavior. Fortunately, Halle is used to this kind of outrageous conduct from Mr. Martinez and, while she is deeply saddened, 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.”
I don’t know what to say. Olivier is the same guy who put a beatdown on Gabriel Aubry. But Halle is the same woman who said that Gabriel started the altercation. A whole mess. I hope Maceo is okay. Did you know that Nahla is 18 years old now? She’s already out of the house and out of the state, in college.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid, BauerGriffin/INSTARimages.com.
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Halle has survived a lot of abuse in her life. I truly hope she has the mindset to protect her children from ever experiencing that kind of pain. I hope Maceo is safe.
As someone who was a victim of DV and SA through 3 decades, I will shout it out for those in the back seats:
Being abused is NO excuse to abuse other people, no matter what happened to you. DO better, stooping to your abusers’ level is unforgivable.
If Maceo is found to have told the truth, I am on his side all the way.
Big mess, wow. It’s very detailed. Poor Maceo. I hope he’s doing better.
Poor kid will be traumatized fir life. Getting choked by a ranting raving lunatic. Here’s hoping he will be safe in the dad’s care. The media is saying he has sole custody. We can only hope the dad’s violent tendencies are only aimed at Halle’s exes.
Being choked is the worst, really.
It will end the way it usually does: a poor man and a bad woman. And it doesn’t matter who was at fault, because the wave of hate will be directed at her anyway.
No it’s about the child that was potentially choked. That is the only thing that matters is the safety of the child. So both parents need to be heavily looked at.
Are you blaming a thirteen-year-old child for being attacked by their parent?
Oh please stop. Women can be abusers too and it’s pretty obvious here that’s what happened.
You repeat what you don’t heal from.
She should let him have custody. She’s been publicly hinting at behavioral issues for years. If this stack is true then whatever non violent disciplinary measures she is taking clearly aren’t working. At his age, he’s away too big for physical discipline from her. She also seems to be unable to separate her son from the hatred she has for his father. Let’s his father do it. If he gets into trouble it’ll be on Olivier.
Gross! She alleged the father was getting in the way of therapy and education while getting child support. Saying she can’t separate her feelings from the two is disgusting.
Guess I’m gross. 👍
We do not know where the truth lies, except that there is a minor child with two parents who each have a history of concerning behavior. As the texts are presented, HB seems to be acknowledging her behavior, and if the judge has imposed sobriety requirements, it is more concerning.
Steph, you’ve been here for ages, & based on the topics we discuss here, I’m astonished that you would even consider physical discipline to be an option, regardless of this child’s age.
@acclaim I’m so happy you recognized I’m completely against corporal punishment! There is no argument I’ve ever heard that makes it acceptable to me.
That being said, how long can you physically go after a child before they can fight back? He’s almost 13? He’s not scared of her anymore. He’s probably bigger than her. That’s what I’m saying, it’s not a sustainable way to discipline.
No kid is appropriately “sized” for physical discipline. Ever.
A restraining order would not have been granted unless something stone cold irrefutable was put in front of a judge.
Much as I love Halle’s work, this report of her actions tracks. I think she has a temper.
Actually, that’s true for a restraining order but not for a temporary restraining order. The other party is not present at a TRO hearing nor do they file a response. Therefore, the burden of proof is much lower
@Sparky, yes, but considering how high-profile this case is/will be, that judge is likely thinking about his own reputation as he makes decisions. That could definitely be affecting things, IMO.
Halle has a well documented Temper, and she seems to be like J-Lo. she believes in love – however its really hard to go with the narrative that it’s all her partners fault all the time. I think she probably gets triggered easily by things and then things get volatile. People sometimes project when they have unresolved issues. and I also think she get’s out of toxic relationships, victimizes herself to the next partner who white knights for her (no pun intended) and they are oblivious to what’s going on in the past relationship.
Women can be domestic abusers, and this isnt spoken about enough.
Also. if you meet more than one a-hole in a day, you’re generally the a-hole.
That explanation of events doesn’t make any damn sense. It reads like a 13 year old boy’s (not entirely truthful) story. “I was just in my room, playing video games, minding my business when ALL OF A SUDDEN, out of NOWHERE, Mom just came in yelling and saying all this horrible stuff about you, Dad.”
Then, when more information comes out, there are all kinds of details that were conveniently left out of the first story.
Olivier gets the benefit of more child support if Maceo is with him full time. (And he already had his hand out in the past).
Halle ended up having children with two white men who expected her to take care of them financially. I’d be pissed, too.
I’m not saying this it true or he is telling the truth but my mom absolutely did stuff like this. she would fly into rages and spout stuff that didnt make sense. I was in my 50s when she died and it never stopped. I never could figure out how to placate her. again not saying Halle did any of this.
Same for me my mother who refused any serious therapy or medication. Or only wanted a therapist to listen to her complain. Then would drop them when they tried ot make her work on herself. Or went decades without it. Medication was never on the table when I suggested it as an adult. When I did not live under her thumb anymore. We have a better relationship now. Since I found my financial freedom (you have no power here thing).
My mother, (to me) suffers from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). She would get something in her head I did. When I never said or did anything. She would fly into a rage and scream or beat me. She almost broke down my door to attack me. I had to wait hours hiding in my room until she calmed down and forgot what she was so mad about. I lived on eggshells my whole life. When I was able to move out it was and is my utopia.
The old saying there are three kind of truths his, hers and the real truth.
Obviously we don’t know all the facts, and probably shouldn’t with children. I just hope they can heal and repair their relationship. And Oliver isn’t stirring the pot. More custody means more child support. I can imagine it’s stressful for Halle being the only real earner with both fathers and has to carry the load for everyone. She has been pretty public about her issues with child support with them. Go get a J.O.B. boys.
And too add even though her daughter is 18 depending on what the child support arrangement is. She could be paying Gabriel until 21 or when she graduates college.
I’m seeing a lot of comments outraged that she had to pay two exes child support.
Olivier Martinez is a working actor and has relatively steady work on IMDB, with some gaps. He’s no longer in his prime though.
Gabriel was a successful, working model back in the day and is now an artist with regular exhibitions.
They both have jobs. They are not like Kevin Federline.
The reason Halle has had to pay them child support is because of the way the system works. Family court doesn’t want one parent to have orders of magnitude more to offer their child/ren in terms of housing and lifestyle, because it can skew which parent the child chooses to be with. They want to even the scale so that the kid/s can get a roughly even type of life in both households.
Most of the time, it’s men paying their ex-wives. In this case, Halle is worth an estimated $90M, so she is the one who has to pay.
It’s actually what is fair, even if it sounds like it’s unfair.
No one is ever happy about child support. It’s too much for the payer, too little for the payee… But what happened here is in line with the system.
Wut? Parents absolutely do burst into their kids’ rooms and start raging, especially drinking parents. None of us know if that’s what happened here, but make no mistake — this happens all the time in households across the planet.
I’m not able to respond to your comment below, so I am here.
“For real, for REAL, imagine if a male celebrity was accused of choking his own child while screaming about race. Everyone would come down super-hard on him.”
Brad Pitt is still worshipped and working…
@HellaWonky — Worshipped by whom? Not anyone on this comment board. Not any woman I know. ~~Everyone~~ knows his kids have cut off all ties. My point is that saying things like, “well, maybe she had a bad moment” — that’s not cool.
I’ve read the entirety of the text chain provided to People, and in it, she is saying that he is continuously disrespectful to her, wants to “fight” her and only talks to her when he wants money. She says she cannot tolerate his disrespect toward her and that Olivier should not be okay with it and can he speak to him. She then says that Olivier pretty much lets him do what he wants, but that he is a child and she is his mother.
That sounds to me like Olivier is “fun” parent, while she has to be the “bad” parent, making sure he does what he needs to do (whether that is chores or his homework. Not to say that it excuses what she did, but everyone can have bad moments, especially when you’re the one carrying the heavy load of childrearing, all while paying child support to someone who’s not doing his share. Add to that their previous court battle was about Olivier not allowing him to get therapy and educational intervention, it sounds like the child may be troubled and at 13, whatever she was doing to discipline him is simply not working anymore.
I don’t know what happened — no one does — but your point is confusing here. You say you don’t want to excuse what she did, but then go on to talk about “bad moments” and “paying child support” (??) and not being able to tolerate disrespect.
For real, for REAL, imagine if a male celebrity was accused of choking his own child while screaming about race. Everyone would come down super-hard on him. IF she attacked her kid — again, I don’t know — there is no excuse whatsoever. None, zero, zip. No matter who it is.
Eww on that last line. She had children with two men who don’t make as money as her. That is how it is. And we wouldn’t be saying this mess if the genders were flipped.
That line didn’t sit well with me either. First, I don’t see why their race needs mentioning as it has nothing to do with it. And like you said, if the genders were flipped people wouldn’t have a problem with the wealthier parent providing more money for the support of minor children.
Gabriel Aubry had plenty of money of his own from what I remember. And given how fast things turned in his favor regarding the altercation with Olivier, my guess is the neighbors’ security cameras verified he did nothing wrong. Love Halle as an actress and am jealous of her beauty, but she has had drama with every husband and significant other, then complained they were abusive toward her.
My mom did not drink, but she would do stuff like this. I remember one time when I was sitting on my brother’s bed playing with a doll when my mom burst in and started beating me with a belt. I had no idea what I had done wrong.
My dad used to call my mom in the mornings. He would complain about me. My parents would talk for about 15 minutes and then she would fly up the stairs in a rage, push open my door and start screaming at me.
It got to the point where if I heard the phone ring, no matter how deep asleep I was, I would come fully awake already standing in my room. My body just threw itself out of bed and was like – we are moving now. We are not a prone target. Go go go.
If you have never been woken up by one of your parents raging and screaming at you – then you are lucky in a way you can’t fully comprehend.
I am also in no way saying Halle did this. Just that this is a thing parents and people do to other people
From the longer articles it reads like her son is being spoiled (or not proparly disciplined) by his father; and she took issues with him being absorbed in his video game. Whether out of frustration or alcohol, remains unclear. However she reacted physically, and it affected the son enough to contact his father, and she was then escalating the situation while her fiance was doing his best to deescalate.
Of course her ex husband may be blowing this out of proportion, and of course she is trying to minimize it. But in the midst seems to be a child with two bad parents. I hope he will be able to get the care he needs.
It’s always incredibly difficult for the parent who is actually doing the day-to-day hard work and discipline to deal with a “Disneyland Daddy” when everything is just fun all the time.
Who is the “Disneyland Daddy” here? Martinez has had 50/50 custody of his son (i.e., day to day) for quite a while. He fought for that; I don’t think he’s been part-time in any way.
@FYI, I’m honestly not familiar with all of the facts, and was just replying to some of the comments here.
I didn’t read that? Her son was at her place, no father in sight. I do wonder what Halle’s boyfriend was doing as he was reportedly present in the room…why didn’t he intervene? Sounds like Halle has rage issues. My child has frustrated me plenty before but I can’t quite wrap my mind around getting physical like that with him, and I had parents who relied heavily on belts. No excuse, Halle.
No matter who is right and who escalated the situation, this is sad and hard to read.
I’m Team Maceo, and I’m hoping he’ll be able to find a good therapist one day, or this will spiral completely out of control and carry over into the next generation.
It seems like there have been many situations in Halle’s life that have “escalated.” It also seems like she self-sabotages her relationships and possibly chooses (or chose in the past) men who make less money than her. That would have given her more power in a relationship and as a parent. Just spitballing here. JMO.
I’m certainly no armchair psychologist but isn’t this a form of generational trauma? I’ve been told in therapy that the things we experience in our formative years often lead to us continuously and subconsciously choosing that type of relationship into adulthood. My dad was not around much and kind of emotionally unavailable when he was, so you can probably guess what kind of men I’ve been attracted to. Makes me wonder if Halle has talked much about her childhood? I remember she had an abusive relationship with Dave Justice and the aforementioned men.
I mean, both can be true, she had terrible men in her life and was abused. That doesn’t mean she can’t have a temper and if her text message to Oliver are real, she doesn’t deny it. On the other side, Maceo is 13 years old. He has parents who had separated in a bad way. Kids at this age can be very lazy and selfish and play the parents against each other (especially when separated parents who can’t stand each other, it is a easy game) if he doesn’t get what he wants or doesn’t want to do what Halle is expecting him to do ( clean up his room, doing his homework, stop playing Video games all the time etc.) I don’t know what to think but what i see online is that the hate against her was very quick, thats not what i saw when the allegations were against him. He didn’t even get this hate when he and Gabriel had a fist fight in front of everyone in the front yard. Men get excused a LOT! So i give her the benefit of the doubt. What i admire is that Halle openly talked about what happened to her with abusive men, many other women, especially celebrities, are not talking about that because of the kids and the public image ( i believe Angelina was like that too for some time) A woman who reports abuse is getting usually a lot of hate from society and even their own families.
This attitude is evident even in the posts above. People immediately assume it’s the woman’s fault, while the man is portrayed merely as the victim of a jealous, hateful ex—who supposedly hates the children she had with him, too, simply because they remind her of him.
As a mom of two young men that are now in their twenties, I can tell you that 13 year old boys are a handful. They can be big enough and strong enough at that age that corporal punishment from a female can be pointless and ineffective. You have to discipline them by removing their pleasures such as video games, cell phones etc. But they’re also smart enough to play parents against one another, ESPECIALLY parents that historically don’t get along.
Sometimes, in a case like Halle’s, you have to let the boy go with his father because then when he tries to buck the father physically, he learns that dads are not so easy to overpower. At some point point they are going to have to follow the parents’ rules. If both parents can agree on what the rules are and present a united front as far as discipline, they can recapture the control as parents. ‘No’ has to mean ‘no’ whether you’re at mom’s house or at dad’s. Otherwise the kid ends up running the show and ends up being a brat that becomes an obnoxious adult.
Preach! I raised 2 boys and they can push you to the point of aggravation, with their arrogance and attitude. I had one in particular who knew everything (while screwing everything he did up) and wouldn’t take any guidance or advice. He would leave everything to the last minute (yes, playing video games) and then get pissy when you raised your voice. He also would play me and my then-husband against each other, even though we lived in the same house. The other one (my step-son) was emotionally disturbed and would literally wipe boogers all over our refrigerator, doors and ceilings. When he was scolded and told not to do that and that it was unhygienic (I think I used the words “that is disgusting, please don’t do that again”), he called his mother up and told her I was emotionally abusing him and she drove to my house and berated me in front of our neighbors. Raising boys is not for the weak.
@Mumster, my condolences. One of my best friends is currently dealing with a similar situation; her boyfriend is in the middle of a contentious divorce and his soon-to-be-ex pulls this same exact kind of sh!t whenever my friend so much as rolls an eye at their child. The mom is not there in the house witnessing the behavior, but is quick to call her husband or lawyer to bitch about things like this.
I’m glad someone said this because I was afraid too. I had a son who was, like many boys, a handful as a teenager. He’s great now, truly. I’m very proud of him in every way. But he needed strong boundaries someone who could check him physically. It’s not about actual fighting or hitting, it’s more the “the don’t mess with me” signal my husband was able to send. I could take away privileges and could counter him verbally, at least at that stage. I once threw his game system in the trash when he wouldn’t get off of it. You have to carry through on the threat, and I would. But I’m a small woman who never played contact sports and he was a strapping kid who played every sport there is. It’s hard to explain, but I know exactly what you mean.
Corporal punishment is never a proper parenting strategy.
@Bisynaptic, agreed. I currently have an incredibly difficult 15-year-old son, and he knows how to push my buttons. But my husband and I just walk away.
@ Angelica Schuyler – I agree with you, that is a great take on it and great advice for Halle and for her and Oliver as co-parents.
I said years ago I was waiting for her to do the same thing with him she did with Gabriel, act as if he’s somehow the bad guy when she goes from supporting them fully. I still say she set up her ex Gabriel to get beaten up by Martinez. She has raged for years online about having to pay child support so that tracks. And if she did text him to apologize about what happened….yeah. I do think she and Van Hunt drink and party a lot (if you follow her gram) so who knows what caused the whole thing, but she put her hands on him and hurt him enough he called his father. So this isn’t one of those Martinez is just trying to shake her down thing. Mess.
With all due respect, I do not think Gabriel was the bad guy and Halle Berry made him look like it, which is WHEWWWWWW but I always felt that she wanted to have a child with him because of how good looking he is. Do not care what you are saying, but Gabriel Aubry has never been violent but Halle and Oliver…both of them have an enormous ego and an enormous temper. I did feel bad for Gabriel but in no way, I feel bad for Olivier. And stop saying that Olivier has no money. Whether you like it or not, that guy had a great career in France (check his bio) and was paid accordingly. He actually made more movies and tv shows than Halle so NO, he has money. Why do we have to take side when they are three sides; it’s not the first time that she plays the black card and it’s not the first time that he has had a temper, as well as her. Stop it. But I am going to say something, you could tell that this woman wanted to have children very similar to her. I do not trust them at all, to be honest as both are at fault.
She should stop drinking. Completely. Drinking fuels such behaviors.
Whew! This is a lot. It sounds like there are issues with both parents and the boy may use this to his advantage. It’s tragic when a kid has to grow up in a chaotic environment with (possible) substance abuse issues affecting the parents. In any case, it’s now a family court matter and should remain private for the boy’s sake. Hopefully, Maceo will get whatever is best for him and whatever help he needs.
Re all the comments speculating that Halle is at fault/Olivier just wants money etc., I’m a lawyer and as someone mentioned above, restraining orders, whatever type they are, do not get granted without sufficient evidence. Note, I do not have a dog in this fight. I just hope that whatever happens it’s in Maceo’s best interests.
The system sometimes fails. Judges are only human and are not always objective.
And the judge knows that this case is under a microscope by the public.
I’m a family lawyer in Texas and here, you can get a temporary ex parte order based solely upon the allegations in a self-serving affidavit. The evidence isn’t presented until the hearing that has to occur within two weeks before the temporary ex parte order expires. So it’s a much lower burden to get a temporary restraining order in Texas – not sure about California.
I have a 12yo daughter that we call the Evil Tween.
I don’t know the circumstances or dynamics but I know how close to the edge these kids will push you. And Halle Berry does not strike me as the type to “gentle parent.”
You don’t call her that to her face, I hope?
Oh boy, this is so messy. I truly believe Olivier and Halle hate each other and use their son as a chess piece to hurt each other. I also believe Maceo, who is now on the cusp of teenagerdom, might be acting like a typical teen and also playing is parents against each other. But he’s a kid, they do that. It’s his parents’ job to manage that and to try to do what’s best for him.
Halle has been dirty before with custody. She tried to take Nala away from her ex Gabriel Aubry for no good reason apart from the fact she wanted to move to France with Olivier. She couldn’t even come up with a good reason for the move, it just seemed vindictive and a way to punish Gabriel from seeing his daughter. There has never been any stories about Gabriel being a bad father. Yes, he had an altercation with Olivier but I believe this was because Gabriel was not letting Halle and Olivier jet to France with Nala and Olivier was mad that Gabriel was… trying to be a good father? Luckily the judge did not play and blocked her from doing this. So she’s kind of getting a taste of her own medicine.
And considering what happened with Halle and Olivier after that, it’s a good thing she never moved to France. So honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she flew into a rage at her son. Maybe he was being bratty or mouthy. But we know she can be mean spirited and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s badmouthing Olivier directly to her son Maceo.
yeah. I am looking at this with a grain of salt. She tried before to block access to her daughter from her ex. And I would like to add, many people were like, you are with a dude who physically assaulted your ex in front of your daughter and you don’t have issues with it?
I’m seeing way too many comments minimizing child abuse….
Way too many are minimizing child abuse.
Agree !!! 🎯 It’s shocking. People, please check your thoughts, wow!
Agreed. And some commenters claiming to have sons and acting like this is normal….
Thank you! This is appalling.
Same.
Totally agree!
Corporal discipline is just a fancy way of saying “child abuse.”
If you can’t handle your teen without throwing hands, you have a problem.
Same. I’m a bit speechless. I do not have kids, but I sure was a kid once.
Same. I love Halle despite all the messiness in her personal life, but this is not okay. Poor kid. And I hate that this is so public and Maceo is at a vulnerable age. I’m taking all the allegations as true, just like I did the plane incident with Brad and Angelina. As someone who survived an abusive narcissistic parent, I bring my own baggage to this table, and I am always Team Kid.
This is a much less important issue, but it does tie into the whole abuse thing. As Black person who is of mixed race, I can say from experience it’s extremely damaging to have one parent disparage another, but also to have one parent disparage the race of another because a) that is your parent and b) they are essentially disparaging part of you. I know her kids are Black, but they are pretty White passing. In fact they are 3/4 European descent and 1/4 African descent – so to say this to a child, particularly this child, is wholly unacceptable.
Gonna leave this thread now before anyone comes for me. I hope they all get the help they need, especially Maceo.This entire situation is so heartbreaking and sad.
This comment section is horrifying. Dear god I hope these are bots.
It’s been something else. I had to re-read a few comments thinking, they didn’t mean what I think they meant, did they? Several read as though physical punishment works & is acceptable until the kid gets big enough to fight back & then you’ve got a problem, gotta bring in the dad. I just…I just don’t understand this.
This is a terrible story, and I truly just hope this young man is ok.
This is messy as hell. I don’t know what to think. It reminds me that however things seem and whoever says what, we will never know the full truth. Team Maceo.
@JFerber, same. I honestly haven’t been paying attention to this at all and Halle hasn’t crossed my mind in years so I really can’t even form an opinion either way. It’s just a mess.
My first thought when I read about her busting into her child’s bedroom and losing her sh*t was, is she still going through menopause? I remember her being very vocal about it in the last few years and advocating for women to be better informed by their doctors about it. Before anyone comes at me for bringing it up, the reason that was my first thought was because I still have vivid memories and a little bit of PTSD from when my mother was going through it. She would fly into a rage at the drop of a hat and start screaming and picking fights with my siblings and dad just out of nowhere. She would say the most awful things that left us bewildered and wondering where that even came from. One particular incident that I’ll never forget involved her screaming at us and my dad asking from the kitchen ‘what is wrong with you?!’ and her storming in and completely clearing everything off the counter top into the floor and then physically attacking my dad. She’s 5’4 and he’s 6’0 and she pushed him backwards and started hitting him. I totally believe her rage could be flipped on like a light switch because I have seen the same behavior in my own mother and it’s scary as hell and something you never forget.
My sister is going through perimenopause & she’s a lot but she doesn’t choke my nephew out.
Honestly! Let’s please not stigmatize perimenopause/menopause for Christ’s sake.
Menopause was my first thought too because I went through it. Second thought alcohol. Always always Team Kids.
I have been following these two for a hot minute now and its a mess all around.
I do not think Martinez should have full custody as his motives for that seem hugely financial – he kept the divorce proceedings going for 8 years because he was not happy with the settlement amount, despite the fact they were married just 2 years.
Also my sense around these allegations is that the reality is much darker sadly.
Martinez is broke and requesting that Halle pay off about $400k+ of litigation debt in addition to the $8k and $4.3% of her earnings he gets every year. California has a weird quirk in the law that allows the less financially stable partner to request legal costs from the richer partner to make the process more equitable. Martinez has effectively been abusing that law for the last 8 years and states that he is unable to work and is therefore dependent on Berry. Basically the same play as Aubry who is now a painter and Artist and worth about 5 million lol. He like Halle has also just turned 60 and has not worked for the 8 years he bifurcated the divorce proceedings which only settled in 2023. He forgets however that he is the reason Aubry is now worth at least 5 million- because Halle had to settle the claim for him beating him up. She also had to settle a claim for him assaulting an airport employee for the same amount a few years later after Aubry and the claimant there used the Aubry template to secure a legal settlement.
I think this is why Berry does not want to pay Martinez off, she feels he has already cost her enough and that has entrenched their hatred for each other.
On the subject of custody, Its interesting that the escalations really started after her and Van Hunt became serious.
It gets even worse in that Maceo has ADHD and mild dyslexia, however due to cultural differences, Martinez does not want Maceo to be medicated and will not turn up to family/ educational therapy to treat Maceo’s neurodivergence/ mental health struggles.
And yet darker still Halle currently has a pending action against Martinez for parental alienation as there was some sort of collusion between a therapist, ex Nanny and Martinez to try and brand Halle as unstable and unable to take care of Maceo.
It;s also Maceo’s birthday next week, which makes the timing of this just insane. He is clearly attacking a pressure point but does not seem to realise the damage he is doing to his 12/13 year old child.
There is more – Halle is due to seek an additional round of funding for her Menopause/ Female Health Telehealth Femtech company in the next few months, which I think she wants to use to pivot away from acting directing now she is a 60 year old woman in Hollywood. I think Martinez again wants to use this publicity to apply pressure to get what he wants, which is ultimately 100% custody of Mateo and to take him to France. If that happens the alienation will be complete. Also it accelerates Halle’s payments to him in that the 8% becomes 16% for full custody and he will also get 8.6% of her earnings going forward until he reaches majority. However in Maceo’s case as he has ADHD and dyslexia, this would allow Martinez to push for payments for a bit longer into Maceo’s early twenties.
Anyway, all the above to say that Martinez has launched the nuclear option out of desperation…. BUT… I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing as essentially Maceo will now be properly assessed by the court and we will finally find out what is going on. By pressing that button, Martinez effectively made Maceo a ward of the court and their original arrangement will be re-assesed and Maceo will have a proper psychiatric assessment to understand why his behaviour is so erratic and what help he needs.
California family courts have a very dim view of parents who try to alienate children, especially vulnerable neurodivergent children, so I am not so sure this is the win Martinez thinks this is. Especially if the original custody agreement is torn up and it is found that she was defending herself.
I think what will happen is that the court will set aside Martinez’s claims and Halle will accelerate the debt against him. This will then allow her to have the upper hand in paying him off once and for all.
Thank you for this synopsis, since as I said above I haven’t been following it at all. It seems like an enormous mess with no great options either way. And the child is paying the price.
This is a very thorough and nuanced explanation. Thank you.
You left out the part where she now has a restraining order for attacking her son, and he called his dad for help.
Okay Halle. And you claiming that Aubry did similar is some nonsense. Celebitchy covered that whole train wreck for years. Halle wanted to move their daughter full time overseas in essence to not pay him child support. Martinez beat him up because of this whole thing. And as someone else said, you ignored the part where she has a restraining order against her because of her assault over her son.
Poor kid. I hope he gets the help he needs and gets out of all of this, intact.
Halle REALLY needs to get a prenuptial agreement before she marries again to her current fiancé . California is a 50/50 state. And she is a lot richer than he is from all accounts.
The poor kids, going through all of his drama all the time.
Whatever may have triggered Halle in the end she physically attacked her son. She more or less confirmed that much in a text. I don’t care if her son is a mouthy insolent asswipe that is never an excuse for abuse or putting your hands on anyone but most especially a child most especially your child. I hope the two abusive adults get a great deal of therapy and the child is allowed to feel safe and protected.
This.
And choking is a particularly alarming predictor of further harm.
That is exactly right.
These poor children. Imagine living your life with parents who have so much discord. I hope Nahla is at college and enjoying herself.
Wow, this is shocking. And a mess, as you say. I don’t follow her minutely, but I had thought that she had found a relationship that was stable and reliable and not stormy, and I was glad to hear it. I wasn’t aware that she had a son. I am glad that the boy now is under the attention of the courts and hopefully will get the best care or the best situation. Of course I don’t know what is true or what isn’t and hopefully it will be sussed out, and this time I’m sure his account will be noted, instead of just two warring exes. I do remember in the past, if I’m not mistaken of the circumstances, Halley very neatly escaped persecution for hit and run, saying that she didn’t know what she was doing because of her diabetes: her blood sugar was low or something. I did not think highly of her for that, but not much was made of it.
Everybody knows that she is CRAY-CRAY!
I’m not sure why everyone is excusing her, to be honest. It’s not even a secret she has a volatile temper.
Honestly it sounds like Halle is an abuser herself. It seems like she is being protected almost from the men who don’t want to lose their cash cow.