4 weeks ago
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Halle Berry broke down what has caused tension between her and her ex-husband Olivier Martinez in an emotional declaration filed as part of their bitter court battle.
In Touch obtained the declaration submitted by Halle, 58, as part of her fight for sole legal custody of their 10-year-old son, Maceo, which Olivier opposed.
In her filing, Halle laid out the issues that have been festering since their 2016 split.
The exes finalized a divorce settlement in late 2023. Months later, Halle was back in court accusing Olivier, 58, of failing to comply with the terms of the deal. The duo is currently going back and forth over custody and attorney fees.
Olivier demanded $300,000 from Halle while she asked the court to sanction him $400,000 for his behavior in the case.
As part of her opposition to Olivier’s request for attorney fees, Halle revealed she already voluntarily paid him $80,000 for his legal bills. In her declaration, she made the case why she believed Olivier did not deserve another dime from her.
Halle wrote, “Olivier states that he cannot earn a living in the U.S. because he is 58 years old and has a language barrier; Olivier also states that he could earn a living if he committed to work in France almost exclusively but cannot due to his custody of Maceo.” She continued, “I am also 58 years old, and Olivier and I share custody of Maceo. Almost all of my movies shoot outside of California, often in other countries requiring that I travel and be away from Maceo for extended periods of time. I have not turned down work because a job is in another country; in fact, I will be in Saudi Arabia for a job in November.”
Halle pointed out “Olivier is not restricted from taking work in France because per the terms of our Stipulated Judgment on Reserved Issues, Olivier would be entitled to day-for-day make-up within 24 hours of his return. I am also aware that Olivier can earn a living in the U.S. because he has done so in the past, starring in multiple English-speaking films. Most recently, Olivier was on Season 2 of the show Loot. During the entire time that Olivier and I have known each other, Olivier and I have communicated only in English.”
The actress said that before they got married Olivier had his own assets including two homes in France and luxury cars. She said after they split, he moved out of her primary home and into another home she owned. She said he lived in her home for three years.
Halle pointed out that was longer than the marriage lasted.
She said, “Other than a couple of payments, for the most part, Olivier lived in my home rent free; I also covered all the costs of the home, including utilities. I initially agreed to have Olivier stay at my home during our separation and asked him to leave as we were finalizing our judgment.”
Halle added, “Olivier refused to leave my home, threatened me with public litigation, and told me that I would have to call the police if I wanted him out. I wanted to keep our personal matters out of the press, so I agreed to have Olivier stay for what we discussed would be a short period of time. This turned into three years during which period, Olivier caused extensive damage to my home.”
The entertainer said this caused a strain on her and Olivier’s coparenting relationship. She said, “Eventually I asked Olivier to leave, which he did in 2018.” She continued, “I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars repairing the damage Olivier caused and he did not contribute any funds toward the repair. When Olivier moved out, our coparenting relationship improved. We had relatively few issues between 2018 and 2020.”
Halle said Olivier started to become more “inflexible and uncompromising” after he learned about her new relationship with Van Hunt in mid-2020.
She said, “I started to experience and learn about Olivier making unilateral decisions with respect to Maceo and keeping Maceo-related information from me even though we were awarded joint legal custody. Olivier also rejected my requests for to make-up time for the time I was losing with Maceo due to work. At the same time, Olivier was also pressuring me to pay him money and to allow him to move back into my home.”
Halle wrote, “In 2020 and in the years that followed, when issues would arise with respect to Maceo, I tried to address them directly with Olivier and without the involvement of any lawyers. I did so because I feel it is important to our coparenting relationship and because I did not want to incur the cost of litigation.”
She ended, “Since 2021, and at my great expense, four of the five mediations that we participated in were the result of what I perceived and believed to be Olivier’s refusal to follow court orders; interference with the educational and therapeutic interventions put in place in March, 2023; continued unilateral decision-making and keeping important information regarding Maceo from me; and Olivier’s use of Maceo’s educational challenges and need for therapy as leverage with respect to Maceo’s participation in soccer. I am asking that the Court not reward this behavior and that the Court order Olivier to pay sanctions for the fees and costs he has forced me to incur.”
A judge has yet to rule on the matter. A hearing has been set for December.
English (US) ·