The Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry has opened up about growing up in an abusive home.
The Hollywood actress, 58, spoke with actor Dax Shepard on his podcast, Armchair Expert, about her alcoholic father and how he abused her mom and sister. The two stars compared their childhoods, as both had alcoholic fathers and several “step-boyfriends,” men whom their moms dated after leaving their dads.
Berry spoke of how growing up in a volatile home made her fiercely protective of the people she loves because, as a child, she could not stop what was happening to her mom and sister.
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“I saw my mother abused, and I saw my sister also abused by my dad, but never me; he never turned that rage toward me or I never got in the way of the rage,” Berry said on Monday’s edition of the podcast.
“I always ran and hid. I didn’t stand up to it, where my sister stood up to it, and so she got it. I had a lot of guilt because I didn’t get beaten up, I didn’t do anything to defend them.”
Berry described how growing up in that environment then influenced her future relationships as an adult, saying, “because of that upbringing, actually I think I chose partners because I so wanted the ‘picket fence’.”
“I wanted the stability of a family because I didn’t have it. I wanted the perfect marriage with the kids … [and] I didn’t want fighting,” she said.
Eventually, Berry came to the realization that her dad “wasn’t a monster,” and his actions were because he “was the product of the love and the care he never had.”
“He didn’t know how to love us in that one moment. I got who my dad was and I felt it healed a lot of my childhood trauma … he did the best he could,” Berry said.
“So, I knew in that moment all I could do was try to make decisions that would make my life better and different, and that’s when I went on this search for the perfect home life.”
The Monster’s Ball actress has been married three times. She is dating musician Van Hunt and told Shepard that it was “the longest relationship I’ve ever been in, in my whole life,” because she usually “can’t get past three years.”
She was married to former pro baseball player David Justice from 1993 to 1997, singer Eric Benét from 2001 until 2005, and then she was married to actor Olivier Martinez from 2013 to 2016.
In August, Berry filed a court motion against Martinez where she accused him of failing to attend “co-parenting therapy” sessions together.
Their divorce battle lasted until 2023, and they share a 10-year-old son, Maceo. In May, Berry and Martinez reached an agreement to see a co-parenting coach for two individual sessions and at least six joint co-parenting sessions, but, according to Berry’s court papers, the sessions had not even started.
A report from InTouch said Martinez says Berry knew he would be traveling and that she “is constantly attempting to harass and strong-arm Respondent [Martinez] by forcing him into ‘submission’ using her wealth, and the legal professionals at her disposal.”
Berry is also mom to Nahla Ariela Aubry, 16, whom she shares with her ex-partner Gabriel Aubry.
Anyone seeking help should call the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a free and confidential hotline available 24/7. It can be reached on 1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1-800-787-3224. The hotline also provides information on local resources. For more information, visit thehotline.org.