Halle Berry Has Won the Latest Custody Battle Against Third Husband Olivier Martinez

The Catwoman actress has won the latest bout of a long-standing custody dispute against her third husband Olivier Martinez. The two have been locked in a months-long court battle, with the judge ruling in favor of Berry after Martinez failed to persuade the court why he couldn't attend Zoom co-parenting therapy sessions.

About a couple of months ago, she submitted texts and documents claiming that her French ex wasn’t obeying court orders to help co-parent their ten-year-old son. The new ruling means Berry is now one foot in for sole custody of Maceo. Stick around for more juicy details.

Inside Berry’s Messy Child Custody Dispute with Martinez

Berry and Martinez divorced in 2015, when Maceo was just 4, but agreed to share both legal and physical custody of their son. Since then, the estranged ex-hubby has been in and (mostly) out of their son’s life.

She tried to pull him into a co-parenting situation but not much came out of it. Calling it enough is enough, the Grammy winner filed for sole custody of their son in August 2023.

The custody battle has been ongoing for months now. According to court documents, Berry's legal team made multiple attempts to get therapy back on track. But their reaches were met with silence from Martinez's camp. In fact, Ms. Berry said she once begged him to try to see “eye to eye.”

“[Martinez] has refused to co-parent and communicate with me in a child-centered way,” read in part her statement to the court.

As she put it, the French actor has been pushing back, especially on attending co-parenting therapy. In his defense, the 58-year-old said Berry was ‘playing dirty’ by wanting to work on co-parenting “only her way.”

But his excuse about being unable to attend summer counseling sessions due to busy international travel didn't sit well with the judge. He also failed to persuade the court that he wasn’t ‘tech-savvy enough’ owing to the fact that he had been using FaceTime to call their son throughout July.

In the ruling, the court documents said that legal fees incurred by Halle Berry could have been avoided had Martinez not derailed the progress of their co-parenting counseling. Talking of legal fees, the John Wick actress is said to have spent upwards of $200,000 on the custody battle, as noted by US Magazine.

It’s easy to see why Berry was fuming. In their past arrangements, she’d shell out $8,000 every month to Martinez in child support. That’s not all —she was required to pay 4.3% of any paycheck pulling in more than $2 million. Maceo’s health insurance, extracurricular activities, and school tuition is also on her.

She’s been winning elsewhere too, making positive headlines

Halle Berry has yet to make a comment on her latest win in custody battle with Martinez. However, she has been making quite some headlines on the fashion runways and in Hollywood. That’s especially true when she stepped out on the runway at the 1001 Seasons of Elie Saab in Saudi Arabia in her most-talked-about 2002 Oscar’s gown.

When Berry walked up to the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Actress back in 2002, she wasn't just making history as the first African American to receive the prestigious Best Actress Academy Award. Her burgundy dress by Elie Saab did most of the talking for her. From then on, the sheer bodice with floral appliqués has been as famous as the actress herself and the brand behind it.

Before she re-wore it in Saudi Arabia, the iconic dress had been sitting pretty as an exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Its influence extends far beyond the red carpet where it has inspired many famous dresses and looks. Berry’s 2002 look at the Oscars has been the inspiration behind many sexy characters in comic strips, video games, and even virtual games, including those featured on platforms like EA, Vegas Expert, and Sony Playstation.

Not her first custody battle

This isn't Berry's first dating or marriage dispute, especially when it comes to custody battles. Some would say her love life has been quite the rollercoaster. Her first marriage, with former Yankees star David Justice, ended after only three years with Berry falling into depression soon after.

Even before that she had seen her fair share of bad dates and exes. She was sued for $80,000 by her dentist ex and suffered a nasty domestic violence incident (allegedly in the hands of actor Wesley Snipes). She was left with partial hearing loss due to the DV incident.

After Justice, she then gave love another shot with singer Eric Benét in 2001. But that marriage fizzled out by 2003 after he confessed to sex addiction.

The drama really heated up when she met model Gabriel Aubry at a Versace photoshoot in 2005. Though they never married, their relationship gave Berry her first child - a daughter - but ended in one of Hollywood's nastiest custody battles. Things got so intense that in 2012, Aubry and Berry's then-boyfriend Olivier Martinez got into a fistfight at her home on Thanksgiving Day!

Speaking of Martinez, he became husband number three in 2013 after they met filming Dark Tide. They had a son together but split just two years later, leading to their current custody battle. The BAFTA Awards winner is currently dating musician Van Hunt.