Halle, Let Him Go On Over There
It's Trax and Conversation. It's George. It's the Lioness. And we are here to get into the sizzling subjects and the trending topics.
Now, we don't mind getting into people's business. We try not to, but we do. This particular story, though, hit us in a different way. And we want to talk about it because we're Black, and it's our show.
What Happened in Court
A Los Angeles judge has dissolved the temporary restraining order Olivier Martinez got against his ex-wife, Halle Berry, in their ongoing custody fight over their 13-year-old son, Maceo.
Martinez got that temporary order on October 1. He claimed Halle got physical with Maceo during an argument in late September while the boy was playing a virtual reality game, and that she had been hostile toward him before.
Halle denied it, flat out. She has said she never abused her son, and that she is a survivor of domestic violence, not someone who commits it.
On October 29, Superior Court Judge Shelley Kaufman dissolved the temporary order and denied Martinez's request for a longer-term domestic violence restraining order.
Now here's the part that matters. Winning that did not put things back the way they were.
Halle and Martinez finalized their divorce in 2023, after an eight-year legal battle, with joint custody. Under the temporary arrangement the judge left in place, Martinez keeps primary physical custody for now, Halle's visits stay limited with no overnight stays, and they both go back to court on December 17.
So Halle won the restraining order fight, and she still didn't get her son's schedule back. Not yet.
Now, Let's Talk About That Word: "Hostile"
I put the Lioness in the moment on air, and I'm going to let you picture it the way we did.
I'm Halle Berry right now: "You need to get off that game. I told you we had somewhere to be, and you're not dressed yet. Get off that damn game and let's go."
And here comes the teenager: "Mom! I'm playing the game!"
"Boy. Who are you talking to like that? I know you're not talking to me."
"Oh my God, Mom, I can't believe you're talking to me like that. I'm telling my dad."
And the Lioness said it: you're telling gospel, honey.
Now, we weren't in that room, and that judge sat through two weeks of testimony. But here's how that word "hostile" reads to us. We think Maceo got the Black mama tone.
Not a hand. Not a belt. A tone.
That tone that lets you know she is not playing with you. And if you're not used to receiving it, it will scare you, because you can tell in your spirit that she means every word.
And let's be honest about how lucky that young man is. He didn't get hung off the side of a building, and in some households, honey, that could have happened. Halle Berry loved you down, baby.
And While We're Speculating, Because It's Our Show
This is me talking, with my Black mouth and my Black experience, and I'm labeling it for exactly what it is: a theory.
I would not be surprised if Halle's partner, Van Hunt, has had to step in at some point when a certain teenager was feeling himself and used a certain tone with his mama, and simply said, "Hey, hey, hey, don't talk to your mama like that."
That's probably all that man said. But I'd bet dollars to donuts that version went right back to Daddy too, and grew in the telling.
Halle, Baby, Let Him Go On Over There
Now here's the Lioness's advice, and I co-sign it.
Halle, send that child over there with his daddy. Because if he's in that house for one month, Daddy is going to be trying to bring him right on back.
Let that boy be with his father for a season. Visit him. Love him. And live.
You can live your beautiful life, enjoy your beautiful relationship, and be the fun visit. He's 13. He's smelling himself. Every teenager alive has a season where their parent is suddenly the most unreasonable person on earth. Trouble don't last always.
Be Disney Mom. Take him on the holidays, do the fun things, drop him back off, and go on and live. This is your time. This is your season. Don't cry about it.
Word on the Curb: Follow the Coins
On air, we said what a lot of folks were thinking. Word on the curb, allegedly, allegedly, is that this was always partly about child support. Halle has been working, doing some real good movies lately, and folks figured Martinez wanted some of her coins.
Well. Since we recorded, that stopped being just word on the curb.
On November 9, Martinez filed paperwork asking the court to recalculate and raise the child support Halle pays him. Right now she pays $8,000 a month, plus 4.3% of anything she makes over $2 million, and she covers Maceo's tuition, activities, and health insurance. That deal was built on joint custody. Martinez says he now has most of the parenting time, so the number should go up. He hasn't put a figure on it yet.
Halle, for her part, has told the court she believes Maceo has been coached and manipulated against her.
We'll let you decide which story you believe.
What we know is this: he's a teenager, Halle. He's playing virtual reality games, not playing college. This fight has an expiration date, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. Pay a little more money, girl, and call it a day, if that's what it takes. It won't be forever.
Tell Us What You Think
So that's where we landed: a restraining order the judge didn't keep, a custody arrangement that's up in the air until December 17, and a 13-year-old in the middle who may have just met the Black mama tone for the first time.
Are we reading it right? Or are we giving Halle too much grace?
Tell us what you think about this story and all the stories we talk about. Find us on social media, email us at info@ampliphy.net, or send us a shoutout in the AmpliPhy app.
Hear the full conversation on Trax and Conversation on AmpliPhy Radio, weekdays 6 to 10am ET.
We love you. But we gotta go.
George Daigle and the Lioness co-host Trax and Conversation on AmpliPhy.
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