‘X-Men’ Star Halle Berry Fires Back at Olivier Martinez, Says She’s a Domestic Violence Victim and Would Never Hurt Her Son

Custody battles between famous exes rarely stay quiet, and the legal saga between Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez has been unfolding in public for years. The former couple met on the set of ‘Dark Tide’ in 2010, welcomed their son Maceo in October 2013, and split in October 2015 after 2 years of marriage.

Their disputes over how to raise Maceo have since played out through a steady stream of court filings. Berry has previously asked the court to force Martinez into co-parenting therapy and has sought sole legal custody, while both sides have accused the other of failing to cooperate in a child-centered way.

This week, that fight took a far more serious turn. Berry, 60, is now responding to allegations from Martinez, also 60, that she physically harmed their son, and in her filing she describes herself as a domestic violence victim and advocate who would never hurt a child.

Martinez filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court on October 1, and a judge granted a temporary restraining order against Berry. He alleges that during a September 26 incident at Berry’s home, she jumped on Maceo, put her hands around his neck and choked him. He is seeking sole legal and physical custody.

The order requires Berry to stay 100 yards from Martinez and limits her contact with Maceo to court-ordered visitation, currently 2 days a week and every other weekend. Berry’s attorney has rejected the filing, calling it meritless and misleading, and has pointed to what she describes as Martinez’s history of violating court orders.

In her own filing, Berry gives a very different account. According to TMZ, which obtained the documents, she flatly states, “I would never hurt our child.” She says she never put her hands around Maceo’s neck, never choked him and never restricted his breathing.

Berry says the incident began when she went into her son’s room to tell him to stop playing a virtual reality game, and that the two ended up playfully roughhousing before the wrestling escalated. She also denies yelling the phrase Martinez attributes to her, and says she texted him afterward, pleading with him to enforce appropriate boundaries. According to her filing, Maceo then returned to Martinez’s home with no marks on his body or neck.

She describes herself as a victim of domestic violence and an advocate against abuse, but she does not say who the perpetrator was. She has not accused Martinez of domestic violence. Berry’s other child, Nahla Aubry, also submitted a declaration saying she never heard her mother make the racially charged comments that Martinez alleges.

The legal back-and-forth has moved quickly. On Monday, the judge amended the temporary restraining order to clarify that Berry retains final authority over Maceo’s mental health and education decisions, which reflects an agreement the former couple reached in 2024. That provision stays in place until a hearing scheduled for October 16.

Berry is also asking the court to restore the 50-50 custody agreement that the pair established in 2023 when their divorce was finalized. She is seeking to have her tie-breaking authority reinstated and to require Martinez to attend court-ordered therapy sessions. In her filing, she accuses him of trying to align Maceo with him and against her, and she cites his refusal to accept her relationship with her boyfriend, Van Hunt.

Martinez has responded by asking the court to deny her request, arguing that the restraining order is in place and alleging a risk of immediate danger to their son. Maceo turned 13 on Monday, a milestone that arrived in the middle of the dispute.

It is important to note that neither side’s allegations have been established as fact. The October 16 hearing will be the next major moment in a case that is only getting more complicated.

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