Halle Berry is asking the court not to require her 13-year-old son, Maceo, to testify in her custody dispute with ex-husband Olivier Martinez.
Berry, 60, reportedly wrote in court documents that testifying would put Maceo “at the centre of an intensely emotional dispute between his parents,” US Weekly reported.
She said it would force him “to choose sides” in a conflict he is “not emotionally equipped to navigate,” especially without therapy in place. Martinez, 60, has said Maceo “wants to speak with the court to provide his side of the story.”
Berry’s team has also alleged that “evidence suggests (Maceo) has been coached and manipulated by his father.”
Martinez’s lawyer, Patrick Baghdaserians, told People, “We vehemently deny such allegations.” He said victims of abuse “should be able to testify” and accused Berry of being “scared of what the child will say.”
Berry also said she was “absolutely blindsided” by Martinez’s filing. She said he never contacted her about the incident or asked for her account. Her lawyer, Marina Beck, called the allegations “entirely meritless and deliberately misleading.”
The dispute began when Martinez obtained a domestic violence restraining order on Oct. 1 for himself and Maceo. He claims Maceo told him on Sept. 26 that Berry had physically attacked and choked him. Berry denies it. Martinez is also asking to change their 50-50 custody arrangement.
Meanwhile, Berry’s 18-year-old daughter, Nahla, is already defending her mother, at which Martinez has asked the court to exclude her from the case.
