Judge Grants Restraining Order Against Halle Berry Over Choking Claim

A Los Angeles County judge granted a temporary restraining order against Halle Berry on Thursday, after her ex-husband accused the actress of choking their 12-year-old son during an argument at her home.

The order requires Berry, 60, to stay 100 yards away from French actor Olivier Martinez, also 60, and limits her time with their son, Maceo, to court-ordered visitation, two days each week and every other weekend, until a hearing set for Oct. 16.

Berry denies the accusations. Her attorney, Marina Beck, called Martinez's filing "entirely meritless and deliberately misleading."

Martinez filed the petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Oct. 1, 2026, asking for a domestic violence restraining order covering both himself and the boy, plus sole legal and physical custody. The confrontation he describes took place on Sept. 26 at Berry's house.

An argument over a virtual reality game

According to Martinez's declaration, the fight started in Maceo's bedroom while the boy was playing a game using virtual reality goggles. Martinez claims Berry came into the room and began pushing the 12-year-old in what at first seemed to be a joke. When Maceo asked her to stop so he could finish the game, the filing says, things got worse.

Martinez alleges Berry told their son he looked "so stupid" and was "such an idiot" for playing with the goggles. "The situation escalated and Petitioner jumped on our son and started physically fighting with him," he wrote in the court documents. "She grabbed Maceo by the neck and started choking him while shouting, 'Who is dominant now?! Who is dominant?!'"

In the petition, Martinez says Berry caused him "emotional and mental distress due to physical abuse of our minor child, Maceo," and that she "physically abused our son, Maceo, by jumping on him, putting her hands around his neck, and choking him."

The phone call and the text messages

Martinez says his son called him that night and asked to be picked up. He claims he could hear Maceo panicking and Berry yelling in the background. Text messages included in the filing show the boy writing, "Are u here please come." Earlier, Martinez says, Maceo asked him to "come pick [me] up right now."

Martinez says the boy got away from Berry and kept asking to be collected. When he arrived at the house, Berry's fiance, musician Van Hunt, was there, according to the filing. Maceo left with his belongings.

One more message is attached to the petition. Martinez says Berry texted him the next morning: "I feel terrible about what happened last night as I know he does as well."

Berry's lawyer calls the filing misleading

Beck, Berry's attorney, responded the same day the petition landed. "To say this filing is entirely meritless and deliberately misleading would be an understatement," she said. "There is voluminous evidence, including numerous judicial rulings, that Olivier Martinez repeatedly violated court orders and interfered with necessary therapeutic and educational interventions to the detriment of his and Halle Berry's minor son Maceo." She called that "misconduct for which Mr. Martinez has already been legally sanctioned."

Beck went further, saying the filing fits a pattern. "In a way, today's filing is not entirely unexpected from an individual with a well-documented history of erratic, possessive and violent behavior," she said in her statement. "Fortunately, Halle is used to this kind of outrageous conduct from Mr. Martinez and, while she is deeply saddened, she will not allow it to deter her from fighting for Maceo's best interests and providing him with the love and support he needs."

What the temporary order actually does

The judge acted on the emergency request the day it was filed. Berry has to keep 100 yards between herself and Martinez. Her time with Maceo is now limited to court-ordered visits, two days a week and every other weekend. The judge denied Martinez's request to monitor her sobriety, citing insufficient information, People reported.

Both parents have also been ordered into confidential mediation on custody before the next court date. The restrictions stay in place until the Oct. 16 hearing, when the judge can extend them, change them or let them lapse.

A temporary restraining order is not a finding of fact. The limits on Berry's contact do not settle whether Martinez's allegations are true, and no criminal charge has been reported against her.

Older claims packed into the petition

Martinez does not stop at Sept. 26. "While the September 26, 2026, incident in which Petitioner choked our son is the latest incident of abuse, I contend that there have been other instances of abuse over the course of the last few years," he wrote. "These other incidents involve additional physical attacks against our son, as well as verbal and emotional abuse from Petitioner to me."

He alleges that over the last year and a half, Berry had "wrestled Maceo to the ground and forced him to 'tap out.'" He claims she has put the boy in chokeholds she learned while training in mixed martial arts, and that she brushed the episodes off as joking or playing around.

Another allegation involves money. Martinez says Berry told their son that his father is "a white b---h trying to rob a black woman" because of child support disputes, then asked the boy, "How do you feel about that as a black man?"

The filing reaches back further still. Five years ago, Martinez claims, Berry struck him in the face. About 10 years ago, he says, she had a violent outburst and threw a plate with a knife and fork on top of it. He also wrote that he has concerns about Berry's mental health and her "alcohol abuse, which I believe have contributed to her abusive conduct."

What Martinez says he wants

Martinez asked for sole legal and physical custody, a change that would end the shared arrangement the two have operated under since 2023. He also asked the court to bar Berry from being under the influence of alcohol or other substances during visitation.

He stopped short of asking the court to cut mother and son apart for good. "I do not want to permanently sever the relationship between our son and (Berry), but I do not believe that they should be interacting with each other until Petitioner can take sufficient accountability for her actions," he wrote. Of Maceo, he said, "I believe he may be traumatized by the incident," adding that the boy does not want to spend time at her house.

Martinez's attorney, Patrick Baghdaserians, said his client's only motivation is protecting the child, and said he hopes Berry gets the help he believes she needs.

The 2023 divorce deal and its numbers

Berry and Martinez married in 2013 and separated in 2015, the same year they first filed for divorce. The case did not close until 2023, eight years later. The marriage lasted two years. Maceo was born in October 2013.

Under the settlement, the two shared joint legal and physical custody, and Berry agreed to pay Martinez $8,000 a month in child support plus 4.3 percent of any income she receives above $2 million. She is also responsible for Maceo's private school tuition, 100% of his extracurricular activities and his health care. Martinez, under the judgment, is required to take "reasonable action" to find employment and contribute for their son.

The 33-page judgment runs deep into daily logistics. Maceo splits his time between both parents during the week and alternates weekends, with exceptions for certain holidays. He gets one phone or video call with the other parent before bed, and it has to run less than 15 minutes.

Berry asked for sole custody two years ago

In August 2024, Berry went to court seeking sole custody of Maceo, arguing that Martinez's "turbulent and detrimental behavior" had left their son, then 10, with "serious behavior and learning problems." Court records show the pair went through joint co-parenting therapy in May 2024 to try to work out their disputes.

Her 2024 request sought sole legal custody or the authority to make certain decisions about Maceo's education and treatment, and accused Martinez of interfering with educational and therapeutic help. Martinez disputed her account, and the request was not granted. A judge later sided with Berry in a separate dispute over his participation in court-ordered co-parenting therapy.

Where the case stands

Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Leticia Musgrove in the 2001 film "Monster's Ball." Earlier this year she starred in the Amazon MGM Studios film "Crime 101." She is engaged to Van Hunt and has an 18-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

The temporary order holds until Oct. 16. Between now and then, both parents are required to sit down for confidential mediation on long-term custody. The judge will then decide whether the 100-yard restriction and the limited visitation stay, loosen or come off entirely. Anyone affected by domestic violence can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.