Rumors of Halle Berry domestic abuse have persisted for years, and have been levied most recently against estranged husband Olivier Martinez. Martinez is Berry’s third husband; her first two, former MLB star David Justice and singer Eric Benet, have both been linked to rumors of Halle Berry domestic abuse, though those rumors all appear to stem from a misconception. Berry and Martinez have cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their pending divorce, which further complicates the rumors.
Recently, Justice and Benet made headlines and raised eyebrows for going after Berry in a joint Twitter spat. The scuffle began when Justice, exasperated over years of claims that he was responsible for abusing Berry, took out his frustrations in a Tweetstorm. Berry herself has explained many times that Justice was not responsible for the most well-known claim of Halle Berry abuse: namely, that when Berry was filming The Last Boy Scout in 1991, she lost eighty percent of the hearing in her left ear after being beaten by an abusive boyfriend.
In addition to trying to clear his name, though, Justice decided to go after Berry and her publicists:
When she first reported that she had been in abusive relationships,she wouldn’t name the “famous” former boyfriend (WS)..
She was mad at me leaving the relationship so she and her Hollywood Team just tried to destroy my character.It had to be my fault,right?
Yup..Me,Eric,Gabriel and Olivier were all her “Knight in Shining Armor”,until it ends..Then we all become the worst guys in history.
Only the guys in the relationship with Halle know the real deal..there will be another,of course.He’ll be called “The Best” until it ends.
Benet, Berry’s second husband, then joined in, saying ““My man at @23davidjustice is tweeting some truth dis’ mornin’!” The tweets the two shared raised an outcry and rallied many observers to support Halle. After all, they claimed, whether or not David Justice and / or Eric Benet were ever responsible for Halle Berry domestic abuse, there was no need to gang up on her over the internet–particularly with Berry currently going through her third divorce.
In addition to the David Justice rumors, another high-profile fight has led to speculation regarding possible spousal abuse in the Berry household. When Berry broke up with longtime boyfriend Gabriel Aubrey, the two engaged in a long, bitter custody battle over daughter Nahla. The most notable incident during the course of that battle was a physical and rather violent Thanksgiving Day brawl between Aubrey and Berry’s then-boyfriend Olivier Martinez. According to witnesses, the two men began arguing in French when Aubrey arrived at Berry’s house to drop Nahla off. Aubrey and Martinez exchanged fisticuffs, pinned each other to the ground in turn, and were treated for an assortment of injuries.
It would appear, then, that one of the after-effects of that fight is yet another series of rumors regarding Halle Berry abuse–this time from Martinez’s hands. Last week, Berry herself addressed the lingering effects of domestic abuse in her own mind, telling an audience that she “still struggles” with its memory. Berry spoke extensively at a fundraiser for the Jennessee Center, a “national domestic violence and intervention organization,” sharing her own experiences in an attempt at empowering other victims:
I saw my mother battered and beaten many years of my life and I felt helpless…I have an understanding, a knowing. I feel like I have something that I can impart to these women. It seems like I’ve overcome it, but I really haven’t. In the quiet of my mind, I still struggle. So while I’m helping these women, I’m helping myself through it, too.
(Photo credits: Halle Berry domestic abuse via Nikki Nelson / Ryan / Michael Wright / WENN.com)
