Halle Berry has many loved ones amid her contentious custody case with ex-husband Olivier Martinez, who has accused the Oscar-winning artist of physically abusing their 12-year-old son. The actor’s supporters include Berry’s 18-year-old daughter, Nahla Aubry, who he has largely kept out of the public eye.
Aubry, who Berry shares with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, spoke out against her ex-stepfather Martinez and supported her mother in an affidavit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. In her request for a restraining order last week, Martinez accused Berry of physically abusing their son Maceo, “wrapping his hands around his neck and choking him” during a Sept. 26 incident. Martinez was granted a restraining order and is seeking sole legal and physical custody. Nahla Aubry said in a statement obtained by The Times that Martinez’s allegations left her “shocked, deeply saddened and deeply saddened.”
“The statements that Olivier claims my mother made are completely inconsistent with the values she has taught me throughout my life,” Aubry said. Elsewhere in his statement he added: “I have never witnessed him being violent towards anyone.”
Martinez’s legal representative did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Thursday.
In her statement, Aubry spoke about her experiences splitting time between her mother and father’s homes during their separation, saying that her mother “consistently provided me with stability, support, and guidance” and that she “never heard” the actor speak negatively about her family or ex-boyfriend. Aubry has lived with her brother for most of her life, and told her brother that she “never heard my mother say anything about Olivier”; This contradicts the allegations Martinez made in his request for a protective order.
Martinez pointed to a 2023 incident in which Berry was accused of allegedly telling her then-9-year-old sons that his father “was a ‘white whore trying to rob a Black woman’ because of child support issues,” according to court documents. She added that Berry “always” encouraged her children to “maintain loving relationships with our fathers.” Aubry also noted in her statement that Berry could be strict, but was also “warm, supportive, and deeply involved in our lives.”
“I have never witnessed him being violent towards anyone, but I remember Olivier beating my father in front of our garage when I was little,” he said, referring to a 2012 fight between Gabriel Aubry and Martinez.
In addition to denying allegations of abuse against her mother, Aubry also spoke out about her half-sibling’s behavior, writing in her affidavit that he could be “very impulsive” and “often acted without thinking and then refused to take responsibility for his actions.” Aubry stated that she last spoke to her brother a day after the alleged September incident, that he did not appear upset, and that the current restraining order prohibits her from contacting him.
Berry’s fiancee, Van Hunt, and her lawyers also made statements in favor of the “Monster’s Ball” actress. In her affidavit, attorney Marina Z. Beck accused Martinez of refusing to provide Berry with information about their son and his education, interfering with their son’s therapy, and refusing to follow the therapist’s recommendations. Court documents also include screenshots of text message exchanges between Berry and Martinez and an email from their son’s school days after the alleged incident about his disruptive behavior.
Berry and Martinez were married since 2013, as of 2015. Their divorce was finally finalized in August 2023; They agreed to joint custody of their son, and Berry agreed to pay Martinez $8,000 a month in child support.
In her request for a restraining order, Martinez also asked Berry to refrain from drinking or taking other substances during her visit and required her to complete a sobriety test “before, during, and after” her visit, according to court documents. The judge denied these sobriety test requests until the next hearing for the verdict on October 16.
Martinez’s attorney, Patrick Baghdaserians, told The Times last week that the well-being and safety of Berry and Martinez’s child is paramount.