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- Halle Berry is an Oscar winning actress.
- She’s been married three times and is the mother of two children.
- In August of 2023, she finalized her divorce from Olivier Martinez, eight years after their initial split.
Halle Berry has had her fair share of romantic relationships — including three marriages. The actress has walked down the aisle three times and had one child in a long-term relationship before finding love in 2020 with her current beau, Van Hunt. Look back at Halle’s husbands here.
David Justice
Halle Berry walked down the aisle the first time at age 27 back in 1993 when she wed David Christopher Justice. Justice is best known as a pro baseball star (now retired) who played on the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees, winning two World Series. Shortly after their wedding, the couple appeared on the cover of Ebony magazine together.
The pair were married for just four years before divorcing in 1997. The split was controversial as Halle requested a restraining order at the time, leading to public speculation that David had possibly abused the future Oscar winner — something she later made clear was not at all true, followed by a series of tweets by David.
“For so many years, there has been this cloud upon the guys who were associated with Halle back then,” David said to PEOPLE in 2015. “Halle has said that she was in abusive relationships, but she didn’t name who the abuser was. So for many years, I know a lot of people thought it was me….[I] let the world know that David Justice is not the person who hit her on her head and caused her hearing loss. Not only did David Justice not do that, David Justice never hit her, period,” he said.
David has since remarried, tying the knot with Rebecca Villalobos in 2001. The pair share three children together.
Eric Benet
Halle met her eventual second husband Eric Benet, fresh off her first divorce in 1997. The R&B singer and actress connected at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, but didn’t begin dating right away. The friendship developed over email, until Halle realized she was in love. “I turned to him and said, ‘You know what? I think I love you,’” the Die Another Day star revealed to People back in 2002.
Eric proposed in 2000 at the premiere of her HBO movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, and the couple wed in 2001. After marrying, Halle also adopted his daughter India (India’s biological mother Tami Benet died when she was just 15 months old).
Halle and Eric’s romance was front and center at the 2002 Oscars, when she became the first Black actress to win an Oscar for Monster’s Ball. Reports began to surface that Eric had cheated on Halle, which the actress initially believed were false. Shortly after, however, Eric admitted that he had committed infidelity and sought treatment for sex addiction. After two years, Halle filed for divorce in 2003.
“Eric and I have had marital problems for some time now and have tried to work things out together,” she Oscar winner said in a statement. “However, at this point, I feel we need time apart to reevaluate our union. We ask that you respect our privacy as we are going through this emotional time.” The split was officially finalized in 2005.
Gabriel Aubry
Sparks flew with Halle and Canadian model Gabriel Aubry after meeting on the set of a photoshoot in 2005. Initially, Halle spotted him on a bus from another campaign — then by happenstance they met just days later on a set. She had an instance connection with Gabriel, who is nine years her junior,
“He wasn’t riding on the bus, he was on the side of the bus, you know, he’s a model,” she said to Jay Leno in 2009. “I saw the picture and I just thought, hmm. I just remember making a mental note of, ‘Wow, that’s a good-looking man,’ and then three days later, bam, there’s that good-looking man!” she added at the time.
Although the two never married, Halle did welcome her first child with Gabriel: daughter Nahla, now 14, on March 16, 2008. Sadly, the couple went their separate ways in 2010, but said in a joint statement that they “remain friends and committed parents to their daughter.”
Gabriel also said that Halle “is, and will forever be, one of the most special and beautiful people that I have ever known, and I am certain that we will continue to have only love and respect for one another.”
While the split initially was amicable on both ends, the two became embroiled in a custody battle when Halle attempted to move Nahla to France, where her eventual third husband Olivier Martinez lived. A judge blocked the move, and later ordered the actress to pay Aubry $16,000 a month in child support ($200K a year). She later tried to reduce the amounts when she alleged her ex was wasn’t working and only living on the child support funds she paid him. Nahla has remained under joint custody since 2012, after Aubry and Martinez got into a physical fight in Los Angeles.
Olivier Martinez
The same year as ending things Gabriel, Halle met French actor Olivier Martinez. The two worked on movie Dark Tide together in 2010, which shot on location in Cape Town, South Africa. They were spotted kissing on set and holding hands in Paris shortly after.
“When I first met Olivier, there wasn’t the initial ‘I’m in love! ‘ It was something that grew more gradually — and it feels more real because of that,” she said to InStyle magazine in 2012. “He’s silly, a clown, and very much the life of the party, which is good for someone like me. Danny Downer…been there, done that. Now I like Louie Lightfoot!” she added of the Unfaithful actor.
That same year, she was spotted rocking a large diamond ring on that finger, later confirming they were indeed engaged. “It’s another one of those never-say-never things. I’m a hopeless romantic, and I won’t stop till I get it right!” she also said.
Halle become pregnant with her second child Maceo in early 2013 at the age of 41, giving birth to him on October 5 of that year. While expecting, Halle and Olivier made their union legal with a wedding ceremony on July 13, 2013 at the Chateau des Conde in Vallery, France.
Sadly, the relationship was short lived after, as reports that there was trouble in paradise began to swirl just months later in early 2014. By August 2015, Halle was seen without her wedding ring — leading to a divorce filing by that October citing “irreconcilable differences.”
“We move forward with love and respect for one another and the shared focus of what is best for our son,” she said in a statement to press. The split was finalized in 2017, and the exes share joint custody of Maceo. In Aug. 2023, it was reported that the former lovebirds reached a custody agreement and it was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The agreement included them sharing joint legal and physical custody of Maceo, according to USA TODAY. It also states Halle will pay Olivier $8,000 a month in child support and 4.3% of all income she makes above $2 million. She will also pay for Maceo’s private school tuition, extracurricular activities, health insurance and his therapist.
“The public documents filed in the matter should speak for themselves. The parties wanted more clarity in regards to Maceo’s schedule and each of their respective time with their son,” Olivier’s attorney Matthew K. Skarin told USA TODAY in a statement. The custody agreement reportedly confirms that Maceo will split time with his parents during the week, and they will alternate custody of him on the weekends. Exceptions to the agreement are for school holidays, Maceo’s birthday, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
The agreement also reportedly says that when Maceo is at one custodial parent’s house, he’s allowed one phone call or video communication before bedtime with the other custody parent, but it “shall not exceed fifteen minutes.” In regards to therapy, he is suggested individual and family counseling “no more than two times per month on Halle’s custodial time,” and both parents are not to speak negatively about the other while with him.
Van Hunt
After three divorces and one longterm relationship, Halle has yet to wed again — but has found love! The Cleveland, Ohio native struck up a romance with singer Van Hunt, 52, during COVID-19. Halle was initially about her new man, teasing him via social media — but he eventually posted a snap of the two kissing in Aug. 2020. “kisses land softly,” he sweetly wrote in the caption. Weeks later, Halle confirmed the two were dating.
While the pair have largely kept their romance under wraps, Van was Halle’s date for several marquee red carpet events in 2021, including the Academy Awards and the opening of the Academy Museum. “After the year we’ve all had, my heart is full as I’m grateful to see this August 14th,” she wrote on her birthday via Instagram. “In the midst of the storm, I’ve managed to create happiness, find more peace, and feel more free than ever! Finally, I’m exhaling!” she also said alluding to the relationship.
Speculation that the two married while on a tropical getaway in Jan. 2022 sparked after she posted an image of herself at an altar with Van. “well…IT’S OFFICIAL!” she wrote in the caption, that showed the two kissing in the venue, which was on-site at their resort. Fans and other famous pals flooded the comments with congratulatory messages, leading Halle to clarify the situation the next day.
“We were just having some New Year’s Day fun! People clearly don’t swipe as much as we thought they did,” she explained. “thank you for the well wishes, tho’, it really touched our hearts! Now it’s OFFICIAL, the internet is no longer undefeated,” she also said.
