Halle Berry is seeking sole custody of her 10-year-old son, Maceo. The 58-year-old actress alleges that her ex-husband Olivier Martinez "refuses to co-parent or communicate in a child-centered way or make child-centered decisions," per legal documents obtained by People. As an example, Halle points to how her ex-husband allegedly is "prioritizing soccer activities over Maceo’s educational and psychological well-being."
Because of this, "Maceo’s educational and behavioral challenges worsened, and he continued to fall further behind in school," she alleged in the filing, per People.
Per the August 16 filing, Halle is requesting sole custody or "in the alternative, tie-breaking authority to make all decisions." Halle and Olivier got married in July 2013. They welcomed Maceo that fall. About two years later, they filed for divorce. They settled their divorce eight years later, in 2023.
When they finalized their divorce, they agreed to joint legal custody of Maceo, Us Weekly reported. Additionally, Halle had to pay $8,000 a month in child support, plus "4.3% of any income she receives above $2,000,000."
Because of their co-parenting challenges, Halle and Olivier agreed to go to therapy for Maceo's sake. In May, Halle filed a court document stating their plans to participate in "coparenting therapy/coaching," per Us Weekly.
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But in her new filing, Halle alleges that Olivier does not cooperate and "by refusing to communicate, withholding consent, or deferring decisions, he has effectively delegated to himself sole decision-making authority in violation of the parties’ Stipulated Judgment," per People.
As a co-parent, Olivier is allegedly "oppositional" and "unmoving," and when it comes to addressing their son's educational and behavioral challenges, Olivier "withheld his consent for years."
In addition to prioritizing soccer, Olivier allegedly opposed "any interventions whatsoever for years," per People.
In the filing, Halle described herself as seeking out more support for her son in the form of tutoring, assessments, and more suitable learning environments. But Olivier allegedly "ignores" these efforts and "aggressively stands in the way of implementing strategies and interventions to assist Maceo."
Additionally, Halle has noticed that her son tends to "act out" toward her after spending more time with his dad. According to the former couple's custody agreement, they are not supposed to speak about each other in a negative way in front of Maceo.
But the filing alleges that Olivier did not seem to adhere to this rule.
"Prior to therapeutic intervention, Maceo was prone to repeat disputes that [Halle and Olivier] had in private – and that [Halle] did not discuss with Maceo – often taking [Olivier's] side in these disputes or instructing [Halle] how he and [Olivier] would address the issue, completely disregarding [Halle's] input or authority as a parent," the filing alleges, per Fox News.
