Halle Berry may be an Oscar winner and known around the world as Catwoman, but at home she's mom to two children, daughter Nahla and son Maceo.
The actress, who turned 59 on August 14, welcomed daughter Nahla, 17, with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, and 11-year-old son Maceo with ex-husband Oliver Martinez, and she's a dedicated and beloved mother – despite recent comments from her ex-husband David Justice.
"She don’t cook, don’t clean, don’t really seem motherly," David claimed, sharing the reasons why he divorced her, and in response, Halle trolled the retired MLB player in a post on Instagram that featured a carousel of pictures of her living her best life on a yacht in a string bikini with boyfriend Van Hunt.
"Phew…! cooking, cleaning and mothering," she captioned the post.
Halle was 42 when she became a mom for the first time, and told InStyle about how transformative the experience was.
"I felt the sexiest during both my pregnancies. I became a mom at 40. Knowing that someone would always be counting on me made me a better person. I’m more focused and in line with my values and my goals," she said.
"I stopped letting negativity get me down. Plus, I loved being pregnant," she added, and that she was "so alive with my purpose and my femininity. It felt like my body was doing what it was built to do".
However, Halle's journey through motherhood hasn't been without its fair share of complications and heartbreak as she was embroiled in two contentious and tense years-long custody battles following both of her respective splits from her children's dads.
© WireImageHalle welcomed Nahla on March 16, 2008, with then-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, a Canadian model whom she met at a photoshoot for Versace in November 2005.
In April 2010, it was announced that they had split before Nahla's fight birthday, and a bitter, custody battle ensued, particularly when Halle expressed her wishes to move Nahla to France with then-fiancé, French actor Olivier Martinez.
Halle accused Gabriel of white-washing their daughter when, allegedly without Halle's consent, he dyed Nahla's hair blonde and straightened her curls, which Halle perceived to be a move to mask her daughter's African-American heritage.
© Getty ImagesOlivier was later granted an emergency protective order preventing Gabriel from coming within 100 yards of Halle and Nahla after he and Gabriel entered into a physical fight.
In 2014, Halle was ordered by a judge to pay $16,000 a month in child support – a figure she has since slammed as "extortion" and managed to slash to a lesser $8,000 a month – plus a percentage from her annual earnings.
Nahla has made occasional appearances on her mom's social media, and for her 15th birthday Halle called her "one of the greatest gifts the universe has given me".
Nahla attended a college summer program in 2024 at her chosen college, and Halle admitted that although she is worried for her daughter, she is excited for the next chapter to begin for the teen.
© Joshua BlanchardHalle welcomed Maceo with Olivier on October 5, 2013, the same year they tied the knot. Two years later in 2015 the pair split but their divorce wasn't finalized until 2023 as another custody and child support battle emerged.
Similarly to her deal with Gabriel, as of 2023, Halle has had to pay Olivier $8,000 a month in child support and an additional 4.3 percent of all income she receives above $2 million.
Maceo reportedly splits his weeks equally between his mom and dad, alternating his time with them on weekends, and Halle is also responsible for covering all of his private school tuition, plus all extracurricular activities.
Their son struggles with ADHD and mild dyslexia, and Halle has claimed that Olivier is "either oblivious" to Maceo's learning issues or "carelessly disregards" them.
As part of their agreement, Halle and Olivier were to attend co-parenting therapy, something he has failed to participate in.
A 2023 court judgment ruled that Olivier had failed to attend co-parenting therapy; the actress filed her complaint and claimed Olivier "has refused to co-parent and communicate with [Halle] in a child-centered way" and that "he has been oppositional and unmovable on all major issues relating to Maceo".
© Getty Images for Joylux & PlaygrIn 2021 Halle criticized the child support agreements, sharing a picture that read: "Women don't owe you [expletive]".She captioned the post: "It takes great strength [everyday] to pay it. And BTW it's wrong and it's extortion! I've been paying it for a decade now. I feel if a woman or man is having to pay support that is way more than the reasonable needs to help SUPPORT the child, I think that is wrong!"
She continued: "I understand some parents (man or woman) may need help, but I also feel in these modern times both men and women have the responsibility to financially take care of their children and work hard and make every effort to do so. The way many laws are set up, people are allowed to USE children in order to be awarded money to live a lifestyle that not only did they not earn, but that is way above and beyond the child's reasonable needs."
