Halle Berry Scores Custody Battle Victory Against Olivier Martinez
Halle Berry scored a victory in her ongoing custody dispute with ex-husband Olivier Martinez.
According to recent court documents obtained by Us Weekly, a judge ruled in Berry’s favor that Martinez, 58, failed to communicate his lack of availability to participate in coparenting therapy.
“The court is not persuaded by [his] argument that he could not continue co-parenting therapy during the summer because he was traveling abroad and is not tech-savvy,” the court filing reads. “[The] sessions are done by Zoom, and [he] demonstrated an ability to use Zoom for his June session … as well as his ability to have FaceTime calls [with their son] almost every day in the month of July. [He] could have continued coparenting therapy … but unilaterally declined to continue to participate in counseling.”
The court also ruled that Berry’s attorney made multiple attempts to “get therapy back on track,” which allegedly went unanswered by Martinez’s team.
“Because [he] did not participate in coparenting therapy in the summer, he stalled the process of moving forward with coparenting therapy,” the docs state, ruling that Berry’s resulting legal fees “could have been avoided had [Martinez] acted in a timely manner.”
A custody hearing is scheduled for December 12.
Us confirmed in August that Berry, 58, filed for sole custody of their son Maceo, 10, one year after the exes agreed to share physical and legal custody of their child. (Berry, who also shares daughter Nahla with ex Gabriel Aubry, was married to Martinez between 2013 and 2015.)
In addition to sharing custody, Berry was ordered to pay Martinez $8,000 per month in child support and an additional 4.3 percent of any income she receives over $2 million. Berry also covers all funds pertaining to Maceo’s school tuition, extracurricular activities and health insurance.
One year later in July, Berry claimed in court documents that Martinez was refusing to attend their coparenting therapy sessions as previously agreed upon. Martinez, meanwhile, denied Berry’s claims and filed his own request for sole legal custody.
Martinez filed a new court declaration last month, claiming that Berry is unwilling to help cover his court fees.
“She has refused to make any voluntary contribution to my fees,” he alleged. “This, despite admitting that when she has done so in the past and been willing to negotiate — which she is not willing to do now, we have always settled every issue. Without her fee contribution, I will not have the ability to address her claims.”
Martinez further claimed that his “limited work” as an actor outside of the United States has made coparenting difficult, but he still has hopes they can resolve any animosity.
“For several years our relationship improved. I hope that our relationship can return to this status. I do not and have never had an issue with Van Hunt and have supported Van’s relationship with Halle when I speak to Maceo,” Martinez said in his filing, referring to Berry’s longtime boyfriend. “However, I believe, based upon Maceo’s behavior and comments that he made to me, that Halle did not prepare Maceo for Van to suddenly become so involved in their lives, and Maceo has expressed to me a lot of concerns about Van.”
Martinez wants to be able for the former couple to “work on a path forward” for Maceo’s benefit.
“In 2023, when Halle requested that we discuss finalizing our custody arrangement, I requested that we resolve all other outstanding issues which also necessarily included child support,” he added, stressing that he will comply with all court orders.
Berry has not publicly responded to the claims.
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