Halle Berry has been photographed with Maceo in Los Angeles as her legal battle with Olivier Martinez over custody of the teenager continues.
Halle Berry has made a public appearance alongside her son Maceo at one of the most delicate moments in her legal dispute with Olivier Martinez. The actress was photographed on Sunday spending the day with the teenager after a judge temporarily changed the custody arrangement and established new conditions governing contact between mother and son.
Berry, 60, visited Sky Zone, a trampoline park in Los Angeles, with Maceo, who has just turned 13. Several of the teenager’s friends were also there, along with Van Hunt, the musician and Berry’s fiancé. The photographs mark one of the first public appearances of mother and son together since the family dispute intensified once again.
The outing, however, does not represent any change to the court measures currently in place. After granting a temporary restraining order requested by Martinez, the court decided to preserve contact between Berry and Maceo through a specific visitation schedule. The actress is permitted to spend time with her son on Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays between 10am and 8pm. Their outing therefore took place within the authorised period.
At the same time, Halle Berry has requested that the joint custody arrangement she previously shared with Olivier Martinez be reinstated. The Oscar winner wants the agreement reached in August 2023, under which the former couple shared custody of Maceo on a 50/50 basis, to be restored.
Berry is also seeking to regain the tie-breaking authority she previously held over certain decisions concerning the teenager and is asking for Martinez to take part in court-ordered therapy sessions.
In documents filed with the court, the actress also accuses her former husband of attempting to turn Maceo against her. According to Berry, she noticed significant changes in the teenager’s behaviour after periods spent with his father.
“When Maceo returned home after being with Olivier, he was angry and aggressive. It took him two or three days to adjust to being at home, and when he went back to Olivier, the cycle repeated itself,” Berry claims.
The actress also alleges that her son had become aware of private conversations between his parents and was taking sides in disagreements involving matters such as school, football and therapy. She further argues that the lack of cooperation between the adults has ultimately harmed both Maceo and her own relationship with him.
Another source of conflict appears to be Van Hunt. Berry claims that Martinez does not accept the role her fiancé currently plays in Maceo’s life and alleges that her former husband has opposed the teenager taking part in family therapy with the couple. Martinez, meanwhile, has asked the court to reject Berry’s latest requests in their entirety.
The legal battle escalated following allegations made by Olivier Martinez concerning an alleged incident on 26 September. According to the French actor’s account, Berry allegedly physically assaulted Maceo and grabbed him by the neck during an argument involving a virtual reality device. Martinez subsequently requested sole custody.
Halle Berry categorically denies the allegations. Her lawyer, Marina Beck, has described them as “completely unfounded and deliberately misleading”. The actress has also rejected the claims in her own court filings, stating: “I have never abused Maceo physically, emotionally or in any other way.”
