In a Los Angeles courtroom, a twelve-year-old boy named Maceo has become the quiet center of a storm that tests the limits of what courts can know and families can endure. His father, Olivier Martinez, has obtained a temporary restraining order against his mother, Halle Berry, alleging a pattern of physical and emotional abuse culminating in a September incident of choking. Berry's legal team counters that the filing is a tactical maneuver by a man with his own documented history of defying court orders. Until October 16, the law holds the family in suspension — supervised visits, mandatory me
Berry's attorney denies abuse allegations as ex seeks sole custody
A 12-year-old child is at the center of allegations of physical abuse, including choking, and is experiencing custody disruption.
Meritless and deliberately misleading would be an understatement
Mark
So Martinez got a restraining order and is asking for sole custody. What's the actual allegation here?
Mimi
He says Berry choked their son during an incident on September 26, and he's claiming there's been a pattern of physical abuse over years—jumping on him, putting hands around his neck. He also says she verbally attacked the boy.
Luke
One thing to note: we have Martinez's account of what happened. We don't have Berry's version of that specific incident, or any independent documentation of it yet. The restraining order was granted, but that's a temporary measure—it's not a finding of fact.
Mimi
Right. And Berry's attorney is saying Martinez has a history of violating court orders and interfering with the child's therapy and education. She's calling his filing meritless.
Mark
So they've been fighting about custody before this?
Mimi
Yes. Two years ago, Berry filed for sole custody, saying Martinez was obstructing the child's therapeutic and educational needs. So this isn't a new conflict—it's an escalation.
Luke
And we should be clear about what we know versus what's alleged. The September 26 incident—that's Martinez's account in the petition. We don't have police reports, medical records, or Berry's account of what happened that day.
Mark
What does the restraining order actually do right now?
Mimi
It keeps Berry one hundred yards away from Martinez, and limits her time with Maceo to two days a week and alternating weekends until the October 16 hearing. So the child's schedule has changed immediately.
Mark
That's significant for a twelve-year-old.
Luke
It is. And both parents are ordered into mediation. The court is also requiring Berry to submit to sobriety testing, which suggests the petition raised concerns about substance use—though we don't have details on what prompted that specific condition.
Mimi
The bigger picture is that this family has been in and out of court for years. They divorced in 2023 after splitting in 2015. There's clearly been ongoing conflict about how to raise this child.
Mark
What happens on October 16?
Mimi
That's when the court decides whether to make the restraining order permanent and whether to grant Martinez sole custody.
Luke
And we should note: we have Berry's attorney's response, but we don't have Martinez's attorney's response yet. Fox News reached out and didn't get a comment.
O Pulso
- A Los Angeles court granted Martinez a temporary restraining order, immediately restricting Berry to supervised visitation just two days a week and requiring her to stay at least one hundred yards away from him.
- The most explosive allegation — that Berry choked her son while demanding 'Who is dominant now?' — has thrust a private family conflict into public scrutiny, with a child's safety and credibility at the center.
- Berry's attorney fired back, calling the petition deliberately misleading and pointing to prior court sanctions against Martinez for violating custody orders and obstructing their son's therapeutic care.
- The dispute carries financial and legal history: a 2023 divorce settlement, a prior sole-custody bid by Berry herself in 2024, and years of structured co-parenting arrangements now thrown into uncertainty.
- Both parents have been ordered into confidential mediation, Berry faces sobriety testing conditions, and an October 16 hearing will decide whether temporary measures become permanent — leaving Maceo's daily life in limbo.
In a Los Angeles courtroom, a twelve-year-old boy named Maceo has become the quiet center of a storm that tests the limits of what courts can know and families can endure. His father, Olivier Martinez, has obtained a temporary restraining order against his mother, Halle Berry, alleging a pattern of physical and emotional abuse culminating in a September incident of choking. Berry's legal team counters that the filing is a tactical maneuver by a man with his own documented history of defying court orders. Until October 16, the law holds the family in suspension — supervised visits, mandatory mediation, and a child caught between two competing accounts of who harmed him.
A Los Angeles court granted Olivier Martinez a temporary restraining order against Halle Berry last Thursday, restricting her to two supervised days with their twelve-year-old son, Maceo, and alternating weekends until a hearing on October 16. The petition seeks sole custody and centers on allegations that Berry has subjected Maceo to years of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse.
The most serious allegation involves a September 26 incident in which Martinez claims Berry entered Maceo's bedroom, mocked him for wearing virtual reality goggles, then jumped on him, choked him, and demanded, "Who is dominant now?" Martinez says Maceo called him afterward to describe what had happened. Berry's fiancé, Van Hunt, was reportedly present in the home.
Berry's attorney, Marina Beck, called the filing "entirely meritless and deliberately misleading," arguing that Martinez has a well-documented history of violating court orders and obstructing Maceo's educational and therapeutic support — conduct for which he has already faced legal sanctions. Beck framed the petition as consistent with what she described as Martinez's pattern of erratic and possessive behavior.
The dispute has a layered history. The couple finalized their divorce in 2023, with Berry agreeing to pay nearly eight thousand dollars monthly in child support along with private school tuition, extracurricular costs, and health care. Two years ago, it was Berry who filed for sole custody, citing Martinez's disruptive interference with Maceo's care — a reversal that underscores how deeply contested this co-parenting relationship has been.
The court has ordered both parties into confidential mediation and imposed sobriety testing conditions on Berry surrounding her visits. A prohibition against speaking negatively about each other in front of Maceo — already part of their existing order — now sits uncomfortably alongside abuse allegations that are fully in the public record. The October 16 hearing will determine whether the temporary measures hold, and what shape of family life awaits a twelve-year-old boy at the center of it all.
On Thursday, a Los Angeles court granted Olivier Martinez a temporary restraining order against his ex-partner Halle Berry and moved to hear his request for sole custody of their twelve-year-old son, Maceo. The filing centers on allegations that Berry physically abused the boy, including an incident on September 26 in which Martinez claims she choked him. The restraining order immediately altered the family's living arrangement: Berry must now maintain a distance of at least one hundred yards from Martinez, and her time with Maceo is limited to two supervised days each week and alternating weekends until an October 16 hearing.
In the custody petition, Martinez describes a pattern of harm spanning years. He alleges that Berry has subjected Maceo to repeated physical attacks, verbal abuse, and emotional cruelty. The most recent incident, according to his account, unfolded when Berry entered their son's bedroom to find him wearing virtual reality goggles while gaming. She allegedly told him he looked "so stupid," then jumped on him, attacked him, and placed her hands around his neck while choking him and demanding, "Who is dominant now?" Martinez says Maceo called him afterward to report what had happened. Berry's fiancé, Van Hunt, was reportedly in the home at the time.
Berry's attorney, Marina Beck, rejected the allegations as baseless and strategically timed. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Beck characterized the filing as "entirely meritless and deliberately misleading," pointing to what she described as extensive evidence and prior court rulings documenting Martinez's own pattern of violating custody orders and obstructing therapeutic and educational support for Maceo. Beck noted that Martinez has already faced legal sanctions for this conduct. She framed the current petition as consistent with what she called Martinez's "well-documented history of erratic, possessive and violent behavior" and emphasized that Berry remains committed to Maceo's wellbeing despite the allegations.
The custody dispute carries financial weight. When the couple finalized their divorce in 2023—eight years after separating—Berry agreed to pay Martinez nearly eight thousand dollars monthly in child support. She also contributes 4.3 percent of any income exceeding two million dollars. The settlement obligates her to cover Maceo's private school tuition, all extracurricular activities, and health care expenses. Under the existing arrangement, Maceo divides his time between both parents during the week and alternates weekends, with limited phone or video contact before bed capped at fifteen minutes.
The restraining order petition arrives two years after Berry herself filed for sole custody, citing what she described as Martinez's "turbulent and detrimental behavior" toward interventions addressing Maceo's educational and therapeutic needs. That earlier filing suggested a custody conflict rooted in disagreements over the child's care and support, not allegations of abuse by either parent. The court has now ordered both parties into confidential mediation and imposed additional conditions: the petition calls for Berry to refrain from being under the influence and to submit to sobriety testing before, during, and after visits with Maceo.
The October 16 hearing will determine whether the temporary restraining order becomes permanent and whether the court grants Martinez's request for sole custody. Until then, the family structure that has governed Maceo's life for the past three years—shared custody with structured visitation—has been suspended. Both parents remain bound by an earlier court order prohibiting them from speaking negatively about each other in front of their son, a provision that now sits uneasily alongside the abuse allegations now in the public record.
Citações Notáveis
To say this filing is entirely meritless and deliberately misleading would be an understatement.— Marina Beck, Berry's attorney
Martinez claims Berry physically abused their son by jumping on him, putting her hands around his neck, and choking him during a September 26 incident.— Olivier Martinez, in custody petition
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em Fox News ↗