Halle Berry Accusations Explained: Timeline of Legal Battles With Ex-Husband - Newsweek

A judge has granted a restraining order against actress Halle Berry, after her ex-husband Olivier Martinez accused her of attacking their 12-year-old son and putting him into a choke hold, in what Martinez alleges is just the “latest incident of abuse” among multiple. Newsweek has broken down the details of these claims and compiled a timeline of the former couple’s longstanding legal battles.

Martinez, an actor known for his work in French cinema, said his and Berry’s son, Maceo Robert Martinez asked him to fetch him from his mother’s house last Saturday, after she yelled at and “physically fought” him.

In court documents reviewed by Newsweek, Martinez also alleged that Berry, who “has been trained as an MMA fighter,” has, on multiple occasions, put Maceo in a choke hold and hold it there until he ‘taps out’.”

“There have been multiple times when [Berry] has unprovokedly grabbed our son's neck from the back when he was not looking and forced him to tap out,” Martinez said.

Judge Shelley Kaufman on Thursday issued a temporary order, reviewed by Newsweek, temporarily restricting Berry to unsupervised daytime visits with her son. There has been no legal ruling on whether the allegations are true or false.

Berry’s attorney Marina Beck has called Martinez’s filing “entirely meritless and deliberately misleading.”

“To say this filing is entirely meritless and deliberately misleading would be an understatement,” Beck said in a statement to PEOPLE. “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.”

Newsweek contacted Beck, via email, for comment on Friday.

Berry and Martinez, married in 2013, have a long history of legal battles with each other. Although their marriage legally ended in 2016, their divorce was only settled in 2023, after eight years of disputes over issues like custody of their son, child support and legal costs.

Martinez said in his court filing that Maceo called him on Saturday night, saying Berry has “physically attacked him and choked him.” Martinez said he could hear Maceo “panicking.”

He said Berry’s current partner helped Maceo bring his bags to the car. “It was very clear from the demeanor of [Berry’s] boyfriend and Maceo at that point that it had been a traumatic night for everyone,” Martinez said, adding that, at this time, he did not know there had allegedly been a physical fight.

Martinez said Maceo “placed his head in his hands and did not speak” on the way home, but opened up later that night when he asked to sleep with his father.

Maceo said he was playing with his Virtual Reality (VR) headset in his bedroom when Berry came in and “began pushing” him in what “appeared to be intended in a joking manner,” according to Martinez.

When Maceo said “stop, let me finish the game first,” Berry allegedly told her son he looks “so stupid" and is “such an idiot.”

“The situation escalated from there. Petitioner jumped on Maceo and started physically fighting with him,” Martinez said. “She grabbed Maceo by the neck and started choking him while shouting ‘Who is dominant now?! Who is dominant?’.”

“Maceo told me he had to fight back,” Martinez said. “Through his efforts, he managed to escape [Berry]’s grip” and started screaming, which caused Berry’s current partner to come into the room, who “defended Maceo” and convinced Berry to allow Maceo to pack his clothes.

Screengrabs of text messages between Berry and Martinez show the parents talking after Maceo had called his father and Berry later saying she “feels terrible” about what happened that night.

On Saturday night, when Martinez texted Berry to ask if she was okay with him fetching Maceo, she replied: “No I’m not okay with it. He wants to fight his mother? What kind of kid are we raising. As a father ask him what kind of kid is he. I’m his mother?”

Martinez said in his statement that when Maceo had previously complained about Berry’s repeated “attacks,” he had said: “The next time she does that, I’m going to kick her ass.”

“Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened this last Saturday, when he had to physically fight his mother off to escape,” Martinez said.

On the Sunday morning, Berry texted Martinez saying: “Oliver, I’ve reached out to Maceo and asked to speak with him. I know you very much think he makes his own decisions but I would really appreciate it if you would encourage him to speak with me today. I feel terrible about what happened last night as I know he does as well. Thanks.”

Other text messages included in the filing show Maceo texting his father saying: “Are you almost here?”

“On my way,” Martinez replied. “Are you here, please come,” Maceo said back.

Martinez said this was not an isolated event, accusing Berry of hand-slapping Maceo in the face on at least two occasions and repeatedly using her combat training to choke Maceo until he “tapped out.”

He said Berry has said she was “just joking” during the “tap out” incidents but added: “Maceo has consistently told me and her that he does not like this. He has expressed that he is essentially constantly nervous while in her care because he could be put in a choke hold at any moment.”

“I very anxious hearing about this conduct,” Martinez wrote. “A tap out is what someone does essentially right before they are put to sleep for lack of oxygen. This could lead to serious brain injury or even death. My fear that our child may be permanently harmed, or even killed, is reasonable.”

He went on to say that he himself has seen Berry “have sudden and violent mood swings…throw things and break things.” He alleged she damaged his car with his keys when they were together and once threw a plate with a knife and fork on it.

“While this incident happened about ten years ago, it is clear that she has not worked on herself to curb her abusive tendencies,” Martinez said.

Martinez also alleged verbal and emotional abuse, saying Berry had told Maceo, when he was around nine years old, that his father is a "a white b***h robbing money from a Black woman.” She then allegedly asked him: "How do you feel about that as a Black man?"

Martinez filed for a domestic violence restraining order on Thursday, seeking protection for himself and Maceo.

The order prohibits Berry from threatening, harassing or assaulting them and imposes no-contact restrictions and a 100-yard stay-away requirement, with exceptions for court-authorized visits, exchanges and “brief, peaceful communication” about those visits.

It is important to note that Judge Kaufman did not suspend all contact between Berry and Maceo - Berry is allowed unsupervised, in-person visits on certain days, but she is not allowed overnight visits.

She also did not grant sole custody to Martinez – their existing custody agreement, from August 2023, remains in place.

Martinez requested that Berry be subjected to alcohol and substance restrictions while caring for Maceo, including being tested before and after their visits, but the judge denied these.

The temporary order is in place until the next hearing on October 16.

The former couple filed for divorce on October 2015 after two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences and asking for joint custody.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have come to the decision to divorce," they said in a joint statement at the time. ‎"We move forward with love and respect for one another and the shared focus of what is best for our son. We wish each other nothing but happiness in life and we hope that you respect our and, most importantly, our children's privacy as we go through this difficult period."

Berry and Martinez were declared officially divorced at the end of 2016, after Olivier gave up the title of “petitioner” to Berry, according to an ET report at the time.

They had both listed themselves as petitioner (the spouse who starts the divorce case) in their filings, but California law only allows for one.

Although they were both legally declared single, the couple then spent the next eight years battling over financial and custody issues.

The former couple finally reached a settlement on their outstanding problems, agreeing to shared custody and Berry agreeing to pay $8,000 monthly child support and 4.3 percent of any income she receives above $2 million "for additional child support for Maceo."

Berry and Martinez started going to co-parenting therapy together but Martinez stopped attending, Berry alleged at the time.

She asked a court to intervene and “enforce Olivier's compliance” but a judge denied this request, saying it was not considered urgent.

After the dispute over co-parenting, Berry applied for sole custody of Maceo in August 2024, “or in the alternative, tie-breaking authority to make all decisions,” court documents said.

She claimed Martinez was oppositional to the educational and behavioral help Berry thought their son needed, saying Maceo would “act out” after "longer periods of custody" with his father” and repeat details from arguments his parents had had in private.

Martinez “refuses to co-parent or communicate in a child-centered way or make child-centered decisions, which interferes with getting Maceo the help he needs,” Berry's legal team said at the time.

Martinez filed his own documents shortly afterward, accusing Berry of “refusing” to set up a hearing date that works for him.

He said Berry was "keeping him from being able to defend himself both by not having any time or fees to deal with her extreme request.”

Berry responded that Martinez’s delay of the case was causing “detrimental harm” to their son, who she says required “interventions” for his learning disabilities, including ADHD and dyslexia.

In November 2024, a judge ruled in Berry’s favor over Martinez halting co-parenting 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, according to Us Weekly. “[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 co-parenting therapy … but unilaterally declined to continue to participate in counseling.”

The judge ruled Berry’s legal fees “could have been avoided had [Martinez] acted in a timely manner.”

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Cristina Diciu.