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Q: Halle Berry ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Halle Berry
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Celebrities
Asked by: slimbranicus-ga
List Price: $30.00
Posted: 06 Apr 2005 08:28 PDT
Expires: 06 May 2005 08:28 PDT
Question ID: 505750
I'm looking for any information regarding Halle's mental stability or
lack thereof.  From what I understand she has been the victim of
domestic violence, yet I've heard some in the industry insist that she
is unstable and/or "brings it on herself."  Looking to refute such
claims.  Also trying to find out the name of the "boyfriend" that hit
her in the ear causing her hearing loss.  Also, looking for
information concerning the terms of the Berry/Eric Benet divorce
settlement.  Did Benet really come after Halle for support for his
daughter from a previous relationship?!
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/oct/02west.htm
Finally, is Halle currently dating Heavy D?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372809/
Answer  
Subject: Re: Halle Berry
Answered By: bobbie7-ga on 06 Apr 2005 20:10 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hello again Slimbranicus,

Below you will find the answers to your questions regarding Halle Berry.

>I'm looking for any information regarding Halle's mental stability or
lack thereof.  From what I understand she has been the victim of
domestic violence, yet I've heard some in the industry insist that she
is unstable and/or "brings it on herself."  >  



Excerpt from Domestic Violence in the Black Community:

?Halle Berry, who had an abusive father and violent partners, has
voiced the film aimed at young women in abusive relationships and
advises them to 'walk - before it's too late'. Berry has been
criticised in the US for giving irresponsible advice.

Now a British journalist in the Black Community has added his voice by
asking whether the problem of abuse is brought on by women making poor
partner choices. »

BBC
Domestic Violence in the Black Community: 12 January 2004  
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_02_mon_04.shtml


From an interview with Halle Berry:

?Pretense, or as Halle candidly puts it, "lying and deception," is a
theme that has repeated itself many times in her adult life, most
destructively in her romantic relationships. Because she didn't have a
father while growing up ("He was an alcoholic," she says, (and left
when I was four), she hungered for love.?

"I always wanted it," she says, referring to an honest, romantic
relationship. And I think that's why I allowed myself to get in some
strange relationships because I was just searching for that. I wanted
it so badly that I didn't realize the signs that were so obvious
saying |This aint it.' In my relationships before David, I would look
to men for acceptance and reassurance, just like you would a father."

"For Halle, that critical understanding wasn't always so clear. It
only crystallized with the passage of time. "I used to think not
having a father was no big deal. You don't really miss what you never
had," she says. "But as I've gotten older I realize I have missed the
influence of a further in my life and I think that's why I haven't
dealt with relationships with men very well because I was never sure
how to."

?Her way of dealing with the void was to try to fill it with the love
of the men she became involved with. "Before David, I always picked
guys who needed to be rescued," she confesses. "I would baby them and
take care of them instead of being an equal and a partner. When I came
into their lives, they needed somebody to help them and to get them
through a rough time. But once they got through that rough time,
they'd split. And I'd be stuck holding all their baggage plus whatever
I'd acquired from knowing them. I was the one who always ended up
getting hurt in the process."

(. . .)

"I knew that from my mother because she was abused by my father. She
took it for four or five years and she always said to me, "If a man
hits you, you get out as fast as you can. You leave smoke."'

?Unfortunately, she jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. "I
got into another real destructive relationship where I wasn't hit like
in the other one, but I was mentally abused," she say quietly "But I
thought, |I see a light inside this person and I'm going to be the one
to lift him up.' And I did that. But when he got on his feet, he was
gone."

Ebony,  April, 1993 http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n6_v48/ai_13544384
 


Halle Berry: on her roles, her regrets and her real-life nightmare. 

Excerpt:

?Halle's life contains enough anguish for any actress to draw on as
motivation - her abandonment as a child by her father ("He was an
alcoholic who abused my mother"); her confusion over her racial
identity ("When you're an interracial child, children can be cruel");
years of mentally and physically abusive relationships with men she
let use her because she was so desperate to be loved ("I had to hit
rock bottom before I stopped it. My nickname used to be Boo-Boo
because I'd ask my friend, 'Who do these guys think I am, Boo-Boo The
Fool?'"); and, finally, the frightening way she learned she was a
diabetic ("I collapsed on a TV set and went into a coma").?

Ebony,  Dec, 1994
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n2_v50/ai_15974344



?The actress thought she'd found lasting love with baseball star David
Justice, whom she married in 1994. But three years later a bitter
divorce ensued ? a struggle she says nearly drove her to suicide. "I
think that's the weakest I've been in my entire life," she confides.
"That's what the break-up of my marriage reduced me to. It took away
my self-esteem. It beat me down to the lowest of lows."

Hello Magazine
http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/halleberry/


Halle Berry Interview:

?Few actresses have experienced the range of highs and lows that Halle
Berry has in the last four years. Her career climaxed in 2003 when she
made history by becoming the first black woman in the 74-year history
of the event to win an Oscar, for her powerful performance in
?Monster?s Ball?. But behind her all-American smile, Halle's personal
life was in turmoil. Her husband, musician Eric Benet had confessed to
an addiction to sex and repeated infidelity, including, an on-going
affair with a former girlfriend. ?

?Halle later admitted the revelations led her to rock bottom and left
her contemplating suicide. The ?James Bond? star revealed earlier this
year: ?I found out there was woman, after woman, after woman. My bay
windows looked real good and I thought I was going to go right through
them.?

(. . .)

?Ironically the stunning star has a trail of flawed relationships
behind her that sadly seem to have set a pattern for her later life.
She was raised alone by her mother, Judith, after her abusive
alcoholic father, Jerome, left the family when Halle was four. The
actress has not spoken to him in 12 years despite the fact that he's
suffering from Parkinson's and dying of liver failure. She said of the
troubled relationship: ?He abused the whole family. I've forgiven him
but I haven't forgotten. I have no love for him, because he is a
complete stranger and I don't want him to be part of my life.?

(. . .)

 
-------
Therapy
-------

?In the wake of her marriage split, Halle now seems to be enjoying the
success she worked so hard to achieve but has revealed that she went
through an extensive period of therapy to help her deal with the
breakdown of her relationship with Benet.

She explained: ?I took therapy instead and tried to work out what went
wrong. I?ve never been lucky in love. I?m still trying to come to
terms with that. I can?t give an answer as to why or how. I learned a
lesson that day. So I?d never consider going so far again over a man.
I have to grow up and accept what happened.?

---------------
Low Self Esteem
---------------

?But the stunning actress, who has topped polls the world over with
her stunning appearance, still suffers from self-doubt and low self
esteem, despite her stratospheric career and supermodel looks. She
said: ?If they really knew me, they?d realise that I?m far from secure
about my looks. I?ve tried hard over the years in everything I?ve
done. But trying hard doesn?t mean that you always have confidence.?

Cinemas Online
http://www.cinemas-online.co.uk/website/interview.phtml?uid=69


"I had an emotional breakdown. My bay window looked real good, and I
thought I was going to go straight through it."

Contactmusic: 26/05/2004 
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/halle.s%20post.oscars%20heartbreak%20as%20husband%20reveals%20all


Halle Seeks Therapy To Help Her Man Troubles

?Halle Berry is seeking therapy to help her get over a series of
disastrous relationships. The Gothika beauty has always been unlucky
in love - she recently split from unfaithful husband Eric Benet, her
first marriage to baseball player David Justice ended so badly, she
sought a restraining order from him, and she has confessed she lost a
lot of the hearing in her right ear, following a confrontation with a
former lover. The actress says, "So far, my relationships have all
been the kind that make you throw up. I seem to have a hard time
finding the right one. I'm trying to become more picky, to think of
myself more. I see a psychotherapist a couple of times a month. He
helps me understand myself and understand others."

Platinum Celebs: January 2004
http://www.platinum-celebs.com/hollywood/news/008775.html


======================================================


>Also trying to find out the name of the "boyfriend" that hit
her in the ear causing her hearing loss.<  


Wesley Snipes Named As Halle Berry Abuser

?Actor Wesley Snipes has been exposed as the abusive ex-lover of Halle
Berry, who struck the actress so hard, she lost most of the hearing in
her right ear. R&B singer Christopher Williams - who dated Berry in
the early 1990s - has made the startling accusation against the Blade
star after getting upset with the number of people who assume it was
him who dealt the screen beauty the damaging blow. He tells
entertainment news website Eurweb, "The stuff they wrote about (me)
and Halle was totally false. They said something like I busted her
eardrum, and I'm tired of it. I never said it (before) but I'm so
tired of people thinking I'm the guy (who did it). Wesley Snipes
busted her eardrum, not me."

IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000932/news


Halle's Abuser: Thursday, January 15, 2004 

?Wesley Snipes is being accused of causing Halle Berry's hearing loss. 
Christopher Williams, a former lover of the Oscar winning actress, has
named Snipes as Berry's abusive ex who struck her so hard that she
lost most of the hearing in her right ear. Williams says that he has
come forward because he is tired of people assuming that he was
Berry's abuser.? http://kezi.com/popwin.cfm?popupView=print&contentID=6346


======================================================


<Also, looking for information concerning the terms of the Berry/Eric
Benet divorce settlement.  Did Benet really come after Halle for
support for his daughter from a previous relationship?>


It appears that Benet was asking that Berry pay his legal bills,
spousal support and child support for his daughter; however according
to the settlementhe didn't get one cent from her.

?In any case, earlier this year, Halle was finally forced to file for
divorce due to her hubby's repeated philandering. ?To add insult to
adultery, she's currently being sued by her ex for alimony and child
support for his 12 year-old daughter, India?
Philly1
http://www.philly1.com/story6072104.html 


?It was recently revealed in numerous media outlets that Benet is
asking that Berry pay his legal bills, spousal support and has
challenged the prenuptial agreement the couple signed. Berry's office
did not issue a response?.
Ebony,  August, 2004
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_10_59/ai_n6132475


?Singer Eric Benet recently filed papers in Los Angeles asking that
estranged wife Halle Berry pay spousal support and his legal fees. He
is also challenging the couple's prenuptial agreement, according to
reports.?
Jet,  June 28, 2004 
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_26_105/ai_n6160479

----------
Settlement
----------

According to Celebrity Justice ?Berry just finalized her divorce
settlement with musician Eric Benet and only they have details of the
terms. The bottom line: Benet will get none of Berry's bottom line.?

?According to "Celebrity Justice's" Executive Producer Harvey Levin,
Halle is still queen of her own empire?

(...)

"She gets to keep the house they lived in, there was no spousal
support," Levin explained. "There were rumblings he was going to
challenge the pre-nuptial agreement. He didn't do that. The bottom
line is, he didn't get one cent from her."

?Sources tell us Berry will keep her Beverly Hills mansion, and we're
told Benet is now living in distinctly more modest circumstance in the
Studio City area of Los Angeles.?

?Berry had forged a tight relationship with Eric's daughter, India,
and vowed to stay close to her, even though that's not part of the
legal settlement. "There had been news reports that [Berry] adopted
the child," noted Levin. "It's not true. The child is Eric Benet's,
and if Halle Berry wants to have any kind of visitation rights, that
has to be worked out privately between both of them."

Celebrity Justice: January 6, 2005
http://celebrityjustice.warnerbros.com/news/0501/06b.html


Halle Berry Wins Divorce Settlement
http://tymelyne.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1448


======================================================


>Is Halle currently dating Heavy D?<

She was spotted at a restaurant with rapper Heavy D; however a
representative for Heavy D says it?s purely platonic.


From Apollo Cinemas Movie Gossip:

?Halle Berry is reportedly dating rapper Heavy D. The Oscar-winning
beauty was spotted having a romantic meal with the hip-hop star at
exclusive Los Angeles restaurant Madeo. A fellow diner told America's
Us Weekly magazine: 'They sat down at a cosy booth in a quiet corner
and had dinner and drinks. When they walked out, they held hands.'

?However, a representative for Heavy D - real name Dwight Myers -
insisted the couple's relationship was purely platonic. He said:
'They're friends and have known each other for a while.'

BANG Showbiz: 1st April 2005 
http://www.apollocinemas.co.uk/pages/index.php?page=lowdown



?A representative for Heavy D, real name DWIGHT MYERS, insists,
"They're friends and have known each other for a while."
 
Contact Music
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/berry%20steps%20out%20with%20heavy%20d

Female First
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/32182004.htm



======================================================


Search criteria:
Halle Berry, biography, divorce, Benet, settlement, domestic violence,
mental health, abuse, therapy, hearing loss, Heavy D,


I hope this is helpful!


Best regards,
Bobbie7
slimbranicus-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $5.00
OUSTANDING background re: Halle Berry.  Thanks so much Bobbie!!

Comments  
Subject: Re: Halle Berry
From: bobbie7-ga on 07 Apr 2005 14:56 PDT
 
Thanks again for the nice rating and tip!
--Bobbie7

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