The bitter custody battle between Halle Berry and her ex-husband Olivier Martinez has escalated into a courtroom fight over their 13-year-old son's own testimony, after a Los Angeles judge ruled the boy can take the stand — though only on the narrow question of a restraining order, not the broader custody dispute.

Martinez petitioned for a temporary restraining order after alleging Berry choked their son, Maceo, during a September 26 incident at her home. He is also seeking sole custody, which would replace the 50/50 arrangement the former couple had maintained since 2023. Berry has firmly denied the allegations, and her attorneys have argued in court filings that Maceo is a "coached and manipulated child" whose account should be treated with skepticism.

A temporary order, then a thaw

A Los Angeles County judge issued a temporary restraining order on Oct. 1, requiring Berry to stay 100 yards from Martinez and sharply limiting her contact with Maceo while Martinez held temporary primary physical custody. The judge declined, however, to order drug testing of Berry, citing a lack of supporting evidence for that specific request.

A COACHED AND MANIPULATED CHILD, BERRY'S ATTORNEYS ARGUE.

The arrangement has since loosened. Following an Oct. 14 mediation session, Berry was granted unsupervised visits twice a week plus every other weekend, and she is now asking the court to restore the full 50/50 custody split the pair had before the September incident. TheGrio reported that the judge's decision to let Maceo testify — restricted strictly to the restraining-order question rather than the wider custody fight — followed arguments from both sides over how much weight to give a 13-year-old's account in a dispute this contentious.

A hearing on the restraining order itself was scheduled for Oct. 19, though TheGrio also reported Berry was seen out with musician Van Hunt in the days beforehand, a detail that drew tabloid attention of its own ahead of the court date.

What's next

With the restraining-order hearing now behind the case and a ruling pending, the broader custody question — whether the pair returns to their prior 50/50 split or Martinez secures the sole custody he's seeking — remains unresolved. Neither Berry's nor Martinez's representatives have commented publicly beyond their court filings, and any final custody ruling is expected to follow in a separate proceeding.