Halle Berry says eerie photo of her taken by son does not prove she ‘choked’ 13-year-old as star fires back at ex’s shocking abuse claims

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2h ago

By ADAM S. LEVY, US SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER 02:20 14 Oct 2026, updated 02:21 14 Oct 2026

Halle Berry rejected the notion that a photo her ex-husband Olivier Martinez submitted to the court in their ongoing custody case over son Maceo proves she had done anything wrong, in a responsive declaration filed Tuesday.

Martinez, 60, earlier this month obtained a temporary domestic violence restraining order against Berry, 60, based on his claims she had been abusive to their son, 13, in a September 26 incident which involved choking. Berry has denied all of the claims.

Berry said in a responsive declaration filed Tuesday and reviewed by The Daily Mail that the photographic image – which Martinez said was snapped by Maceo – ‘does not corroborate abuse, injury, or danger,’ as it simply shows her ‘standing calmly, with her hands in her pockets, several feet away from Maceo.’

In his filing Monday, Martinez said that Maceo ‘immediately took a picture of’ Berry ‘during the aftermath of the recent incident’ since ‘he has been roughed up’ on previous occasions and ‘no one believed him.’

In Tuesday’s legal documents, Berry said that while Martinez submitted the image to the court as ‘proof that “something happened,”‘ it did not reveal any redness, bruising or marks on his neck to support Martinez’s ‘allegation that [Berry] strangled him.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for both parties for further comment on the story.

Martinez said in a responsive declaration filed Monday that son Maceo is hoping to testify, adding that the teen ‘was concerned that no one will believe him over his mother’ over what happened in the incident.

Maceo ‘wants to speak with the court to provide his side of the story,’ Martinez said in the court filing, adding that he feels his son ‘should have the opportunity to have his voice heard regarding what he experienced that night.’

Martinez’s lawyer Patrick Baghdaserians told The Daily Mail on Tuesday that his ‘client believes that it is in Maceo’s best interest for the Court to have all the information regarding what happened at [Berry’s] home on the night of September 26, 2026.’

Baghdaserians said Maceo ‘should have the opportunity to have his voice heard regarding what he experienced that night,’ adding that ‘if he is prevented from’ doing so, Martinez ‘fears that [Maceo] would be dissuaded from reporting problems or potential abuse in the future.’

Baghdaserians told The Daily Mail he and his team anticipate Berry ‘will try to prevent Maceo from addressing the court directly.’

Berry said Tuesday in her declaration she believes ‘requiring [Maceo] to testify would place him directly in the middle of a highly contentious dispute between his parents… and risk further harm to his emotional well-being and his relationships with both parents.’

In her declaration Tuesday, Berry said that Martinez’s suggestion that her boyfriend Van Hunt had personally inspected Maceo for injuries following the incident was misleading.

Berry previously said in a court filing that Hunt was ‘the only independent adult witness present during the events of September 26, 2026.’

Berry said in the declaration that Hunt ‘did not state that he conducted an inspection of Maceo’s body or neck,’ but rather ‘simply stated that he did not observe redness or bruising on Maceo,’ adding that they are ‘two entirely different propositions.’

Berry said in her declaration that Maceo’s conduct at his school has deteriorated in the wake of the issuance of the temporary restraining order.

Maceo has become ‘increasingly oppositional, defiant and disrespectful,’ Berry said in the declaration. She told the court in the filing that Maceo was recently given ‘a full week of disciplinary detention’ due to his conduct.

Berry previously requested her 50/50 arrangement with Martinez be reinstated in a series of legal filings she made on October 5 after he was granted primary custody of their son.

Last week, Berry finished a mandated online parenting program called Our Children First amid the ongoing custody battle, according to documents reviewed by The Daily Mail.

The next hearing in the case is slated for October 16.

Berry and Martinez met on the set of Dark Tide, which was filming in South Africa in 2010.

The two wed in 2013, the same year they welcomed their son, and split in 2016. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 2023, with the outcome being joint custody and Berry paying child support.

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