Halle Berry’s attempt to mandate her ex-partner’s participation in co-parenting therapy sessions has been rejected.
Berry sought a court order to compel her ex, Olivier Martinez, to engage in co-parenting therapy sessions.
She lodged the request in a Los Angeles court after Martinez, 58, traveled to France instead of attending the scheduled sessions with Berry and their 10-year-old son.
Legal documents obtained by Radar Online reveal: “[Martinez] unilaterally decided to defer co-parenting therapy altogether until September because he was traveling to France in the month of July and because his brother will be visiting him in the month of August in Los Angeles.”
The couple announced their divorce in 2016, finalizing the terms of their separation in 2023.
As part of the agreement, they committed to attending sessions with a co-parenting specialist.
This included two individual sessions and at least six joint sessions between May and June 2024.
Berry contended that they have yet to begin the first session ‘because he wants to have the summer off’.
Her application argued that he was ‘thereby thwarting the entire therapeutic process’.
Berry’s complaint, filed in Los Angeles, stated: “Coparenting therapy was supposed to commence forthwith and the agreed-upon six conjoint sessions were to be completed by June 14, 2024.
“It is now July 26, 2024, and they have not even started.”
She claimed she had “tried everything to foster a better coparenting relationship with Olivier” but alleged that he “has chosen to repeatedly violate agreements and court orders with careless disregard.”
The application further stated: “To him, the terms of the parties’ stipulated court orders are simply suggestions to follow when it benefits him and which he ignores when it does not fit his alienation agenda.
“None of this is good for the parties, and it is certainly not good for Maceo. Olivier’s conduct harms the parties’ son.”
Berry also accused her ex of attempting to turn their son against her, stating in the documents: “Olivier’s continued involvement of Maceo in our disputes” has “caused Maceo to act out against me.
“Olivier consistently places Maceo in the middle of Olivier’s anger toward me and in the middle of our conflict.”
Martinez’s attorney argued against Berry’s request, claiming it did not qualify for an emergency order as there was no immediate risk to the child.
The judge concurred and denied the request.
Oliver, in his defense, has accused Berry of “constantly attempting to strong-arm [him] by forcing him into ‘submission’ using her wealth, and the legal professionals at her disposal”.