Judge limits Halle Berry's contact with son after ex alleges choking

A Los Angeles County judge granted a temporary restraining order against Halle Berry on Thursday after her former husband, French actor Olivier Martinez, filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing the Oscar winner of choking their 12-year-old son at her home on Sept. 26.

The order requires Berry to stay 100 yards from Martinez and limits her contact with their son, Maceo, to court-ordered visitation of two days each week and every other weekend until a hearing on Oct. 16, according to TMZ, which first reported the filing. The judge denied Martinez's request to monitor her sobriety, citing insufficient information, People reported.

Berry, 60, denied the allegations through her attorney, Marina Beck, who called the petition "entirely meritless and deliberately misleading." Martinez, also 60, is asking the court for sole legal and physical custody of Maceo, which would replace the shared arrangement the two agreed to when their divorce was finalized in 2023.

What the petition alleges

Martinez's declaration describes an argument that began while Maceo was playing a virtual reality game in his bedroom. Berry entered the room and criticized their son, telling him he looked "so stupid" and was "such an idiot" for playing the game, according to the filing. Martinez alleges she began pushing the boy before the confrontation escalated.

In the petition, Martinez wrote that Berry physically abused their son by jumping on him, putting her hands around his neck and choking him, Variety reported. Berry's fiance, the musician Van Hunt, was at the home when it happened, according to the court documents.

The situation escalated and Petitioner jumped on our son and started physically fighting with him. She grabbed Maceo by the neck and started choking him while shouting, 'Who is dominant now?! Who is dominant?!'

Maceo called his father during the confrontation and asked to be picked up, the filing says. Martinez claims he heard his son panicking and Berry yelling in the background. Text messages attached to the petition show the boy writing "Are u here please come" as his father made his way to the house, according to the Daily Beast. Martinez says Maceo got away, and that when he arrived the boy left Berry's home with his belongings.

Martinez told the court he believes Maceo may have been traumatized by what happened and does not want to spend time at Berry's house, Variety reported. He also raised concerns about Berry's mental health and her use of alcohol, which he said in the filing contributed to the conduct he describes.

Earlier incidents cited in the filing

The petition describes a pattern rather than a single episode. Martinez alleges additional physical attacks on their son over the past few years, along with verbal and emotional abuse directed at him. He claims there were earlier occasions when Berry put Maceo in chokeholds, and that over the last year and a half she wrestled the boy to the ground and forced him to "tap out."

Martinez alleges in the filing that Berry told their son that he is "a white bitch trying to rob a Black woman" during a dispute over child support, then asked the boy, "How do you feel about that as a Black man?" according to Variety. Berry has not responded publicly to those specific claims beyond her attorney's statement.

The petition reaches back further, claiming Berry struck Martinez in the face about five years ago and that roughly 10 years ago she threw a plate with a knife and fork on top of it, according to TMZ. Attached to the filing is a text message Martinez says Berry sent him the morning after the Sept. 26 confrontation.

I feel terrible about what happened last night as I know he does as well.

Beck, responding on Berry's behalf, said the record includes judicial rulings finding that Martinez repeatedly violated court orders and interfered with therapeutic and educational help for Maceo, and that he has already been legally sanctioned for that conduct. She said Berry is deeply saddened by the filing but will continue to fight for their son's best interests.

Berry and Martinez have also been ordered into confidential mediation to discuss custody before the Oct. 16 hearing, according to legal documents obtained by TMZ. Martinez filed the petition and obtained the order the same day.

What the judge ordered

The temporary order took effect Thursday and runs until the hearing on Oct. 16. Its conditions, according to TMZ and People, which reviewed the documents, are these.

• Berry must stay 100 yards away from Martinez.
• Her contact with Maceo is limited to court-ordered visitation, two days a week and every other weekend.
• Both parents must attend confidential mediation on custody.
• Martinez's request to monitor her sobriety was denied.

Martinez did not get everything he asked for, TMZ reported. He had requested that the court order Berry to stay away from both him and their son. The judge declined to block her from contact with Maceo, and her visitation remains unsupervised.

In the petition, Martinez wrote that he does not want to permanently sever the relationship between Berry and their son, but that he does not believe the two should be interacting until she takes sufficient accountability for her actions, according to Variety. What he wants, TMZ reported, is space for the boy after the alleged confrontation.

Years of litigation over custody of Maceo

Berry and Martinez married in 2013 and filed for divorce in 2015, two years into the marriage. The case was not finalized until 2023, almost eight years later, the Daily Beast reported. They have shared legal and physical custody of Maceo since. Berry also has an 18-year-old daughter, Nahla, from her relationship with model Gabriel Aubry.

The 2023 settlement set child support at $8,000 a month, the Daily Beast reported, citing People, and required Berry to pay Martinez an additional 4.3 percent of any income she receives above $2,000,000. In filings from 2024, Berry said she had spent more than $200,000 in legal fees in the custody dispute, including $80,000 toward Martinez's legal expenses, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Berry filed for sole custody in August 2024, alleging that Martinez's "turbulent and detrimental behavior" had caused Maceo, then 10, to have "serious behavior and learning problems," according to the Daily Beast. She sought sole legal custody or the authority to make certain decisions about their son's education and treatment, accusing Martinez of interfering with educational and therapeutic interventions. Martinez disputed her allegations, and the request was not granted. A judge later sided with Berry in a separate dispute over his participation in court-ordered co-parenting therapy.

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.

Beck did not name specific incidents in Martinez's past. TMZ noted that Martinez was involved in a Thanksgiving 2012 fight with Aubry, who was Berry's boyfriend at the time, during a custody dispute involving Nahla. Aubry said Martinez threatened to kill him, attacked him and slammed his head against a concrete driveway, according to TMZ's reporting at the time. Berry's side denied that account and said Aubry was the aggressor.

Berry won the Oscar for best actress for her role as Leticia Musgrove in the 2001 film "Monster's Ball." Earlier this year she starred in the Amazon MGM Studios film "Crime 101."

What happens at the Oct. 16 hearing

The temporary restrictions stay in place while the custody dispute moves forward and do not determine whether Martinez's abuse allegations are true. At the Oct. 16 hearing, the court can consider whether the current conditions should continue, be changed or be lifted. Martinez is asking the judge to give him sole legal and physical custody of the boy. Berry, through Beck, says she will keep fighting for what she believes is in her son's interest. Anyone affected by domestic violence can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.