Longtime gossips know that Halle Berry had a habit, for years, of being unable to exit her relationships without a lot of drama. It happened time and time again, and with every breakup or divorce, we were just holding our breath for the inevitable big, messy drama. The legal issues around her split from Gabriel Aubry, who is Nahla’s father, were epic and drawn out for years. In the middle of the Aubry drama, Halle fell for Olivier Martinez and they welcomed a son together, Maceo, who is nine years old at this time. Olivier and Halle eventually married, although they quickly separated and filed for divorce in 2015… and the divorce wasn’t finalized until 2023. During that time, we all waited for the inevitable drama… but then nothing much happened publicly. By all appearances, Halle and Olivier stayed somewhat cordial and they have been able to coparent Maceo for years. But obviously, drama has arrived at long last.
Halle Berry’s request for a court to intervene in her and Olivier Martinez’s co-parenting agreement for their 9-year-old son Maceo has been denied as she alleged that he hasn’t been seeing a co-parenting coach as they previously planned. On May 29, The Union actress, 57, and her ex-husband Martinez, 58, agreed to “co-parenting therapy” with a coach to “resolve disputes and conflicts between them in an effort to successfully co-parent” Maceo, according to court papers obtained by PEOPLE at the time.
Now, Berry alleges Martinez has failed to continue seeing the coach. She claimed that Martinez “unilaterally terminated” coaching sessions without telling her or the coach, per a new filing in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County obtained by PEOPLE on Thursday, Aug. 1. In the filing, she claims Martinez “has chosen to repeatedly violate agreements and court orders with careless regard,” adding that his alleged “conduct harms” their son and the exes’ “already strained relationship.”
Berry wanted Martinez to be ordered to attend at least one more meeting before the end of July and continue with the previously agreed schedule in August. Berry asked the court to “enforce Olivier’s compliance” with the agreement by Monday, July 29. However, Judge Shelley Kaufman denied the request on Thursday due to “lack of exigent circumstances,” per court papers seen by PEOPLE. In other words, the judge did not deem it an urgent, emergency matter.
In her filing, Berry noted that in the two months after she and Martinez signed the agreement on May 29, they were each supposed to complete their individual sessions before beginning joined sessions. The co-parenting therapist would then contact the necessary third parties (their son’s school, therapists) amid the process. “None of that has occurred,” the filing alleged. “In fact, not a single conjoint session has been scheduled and not a single third party has been contacted.”
Berry said that instead, Martinez allegedly took “the summer off” and pushed back co-parenting therapy until September as he was going to France in July, and his brother was visiting him in Los Angeles in August. The filing pointed out that the sessions are via Zoom, so it doesn’t matter where the parties are located.
According to Berry, Martinez also allegedly “refuses to complete the necessary paperwork that would allow the coparenting therapist to speak to necessary third parties.” She accused Martinez of being the one to recommend co-parenting therapy as a tactic to “delay intervention at all costs” and “interfere with Halle’s relationship with Maceo without repercussion.” Ultimately, Berry has accused Martinez of upending “the entire therapeutic process.”
Berry said she tried to settle the matter with Martinez personally and their attorneys before taking it to court.
The terms of their divorce were pretty boilerplate – joint custody, with Halle paying Olivier $8000 a month in child support, plus “4.3% of any income she receives above $2,000,000″ in additional support. I’m sure the terms of this coparenting counseling were spelled out in their divorce settlement/agreement, and I’m sure that Olivier hasn’t been following the agreement. I just don’t know why Halle is treating this like an emergency or why it’s becoming public right now. They were working on their divorce for eight years (much longer than they were together), and none of this stuff spilled out publicly before now. I don’t know… it’s curious. It feels like something’s up. According to In Touch – who got their hands on Olivier’s response – Olivier is pissed that Halle knowingly chose to file this “emergency” request when she knew Olivier would be out of town. Olivier is also accusing Halle of using her wealth to drag him into court over every little nitpicky thing (Gabriel Aubry said the same thing).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.