Halle Berry has been sued by her ex-husband Olivier Martinez, who alleges she assaulted their 12-year-old son — with the suit citing alleged past incidents including a blow to his face and a thrown plate — escalating a custody war that intensified days earlier when Martinez was granted primary custody and a temporary restraining order.
The lawsuit follows the October 1 ruling in which a Los Angeles County judge granted Martinez primary custody of Maceo and a temporary restraining order against Berry, after Martinez accused the actress of jumping on the boy and choking him on September 26 while shouting, "Who is dominant now?!" Under the temporary terms, Berry's visits are limited to two days a week and every other weekend, she must stay 100 yards from Martinez, and a further hearing is set for October 16.
In his filings, Martinez alleged the September 26 choking was the latest in a wider pattern of physical, verbal and emotional conflict. He claimed a "traumatized" Maceo made a frantic call begging his father to pick him up from Berry's house and did not want to return, and he cited additional alleged past incidents — including, according to the suit, a blow to his face and a thrown plate. Martinez is seeking sole custody. His lawyer, Patrick Baghdaserians, said his client's "paramount concern is the health, welfare and the safety of the minor child," and that Berry should get "the appropriate help that she needs."
Berry's lawyer, Marina Beck, called the lawsuit "completely unfounded," accusing Martinez of "erratic, possessive and violent behavior." Beck has pointed to what she describes as voluminous evidence — including prior judicial rulings — that Martinez repeatedly violated court orders and interfered with Maceo's therapeutic and educational interventions, misconduct for which she says he has already been legally sanctioned. Berry has separately asked the court to reinstate the former 50/50 custody arrangement, alleging in new filings that Maceo returns from his father's home "angry and combative" and that Martinez's "continued attempts to align Maceo with him and against me" have damaged her relationship with her son.
The two, both 60, married in 2013 and finalized their divorce in 2023 after an eight-year legal battle. With dueling filings now accusing each side of harming the child at the center of it all, the October 16 hearing will determine whether the temporary orders — and the severe restrictions on Berry's time with Maceo — become the new status quo.