Key Points
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Halle Berry’s son Maceo will be allowed to testify in her custody battle with Olivier Martinez
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The exes, who married in 2013 and split three years later, are fighting over the 13 year old.
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While they have shared custody, Martinez filed a lawsuit in September accusing Berry of physically abusing Maceo, which she has denied.
Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez’s son will be allowed to testify in their ongoing court case over custody of the 13-year-old
Per legal documents viewed by TMZ, which first reported the news, and other outlets, Maceo’s words will be “limited to the request for the issuance of a restraining order.”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to both parties.
Berry and Martinez were married in 2013 and split three years later. Their divorce was finalized in 2023, with the actors having reached a 50-50 custody agreement.
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Martinez filed a lawsuit last month accusing Berry of having “physically abused” Maceo on Sept. 26, “jumping on him, putting her hands around his neck, and choking him.” He sought an emergency restraining order, which he was granted, and full custody.
The Oscar-winning actress denied the allegations against her.
“I have never physically, emotionally, or otherwise abused Maceo,” she stated in a declaration filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by EW. “I am a victim of domestic violence, and I help victims of domestic violence. I am not a perpetrator of violence. I would never hurt our child.”
Berry, the star of movies including Monster’s Ball, Swordfish, and Boomerang, had argued in court documents viewed by EW’s sister publication PEOPLE that Maceo was being coached and manipulated by Martinez.
She said Martinez was “elevating the testimony of a neurodivergent thirteen-year-old child who has spent the last two weeks primarily in Olivier’s care and with whom Olivier admittedly has been discussing the allegations, the litigation, and his anticipated testimony.”
Observations from her fiancé, Van Hunt, and her 18-year-old daughter, Nahla Aubry, whom she shares with ex Gabriel Aubry, were being dismissed, despite their close proximity to the incident — Hunt being the only adult present and Nahla having lived with Halle and Maceo “for virtually Maceo’s entire life,” Berry alleged.
Nahla wrote a declaration for the court this month, in which she stated she’s “never observed anything abusive about [Berry’s] parenting.”
Martinez’s attorney, Patrick Baghdaserians, said in a statement shared with EW, that Martinez feels it’s important for Maceo to testify.
“My client believes that it is in Maceo’s best interest for the Court to have all the information regarding what happened at Petitioner’s home on the night of September 26, 2026,” Baghdaserians said. “He should have the opportunity to have his voice heard regarding what he experienced that night. If he is prevented from addressing the Court regarding these allegations, my client fears that he would be dissuaded from reporting problems or potential abuse in the future.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
