Halle Berry scores another victory in child support battle

EXCLUSIVE: Halle Berry scores victory in decade-long child support battle with ex Gabriel Aubry as payments for daughter Nahla, 15, based on her earnings, are capped at $110,000 a year – $750,000 LESS than the cut he would have received for 2023

• Halle Berry and ex-partner Gabriel Aubry modified their child support deal for daughter Nahla, 15, in a May 15 filing that caps her additional payments at $4.5M
• The actress managed to half her original monthly payments to $8,000 in 2021, but was also ordered to pay 4.3% of any annual income she made over $1.95M
• The amended arrangement now limits the amount after the exes agreed that any additional support over $109,650 per year ‘would exceed’ their daughter’s needs

Halle Berry has scored another victory in her simmering, decade-long child support showdown with ex-lover Gabriel Aubry, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Berry, 56, has spent years embroiled in costly custody battles with the fathers of her two children, Nahla Ariela Aubry, 15, and Maceo Robert Martinez, nine.

The Monster’s Ball actress was ordered to pay Gabriel Aubry $16,000 per month plus a lump sum of $115,000 when the pair first locked horns in LA Superior Court in 2014 – a figure she would later blast as ‘extortion’.

In 2021 she succeeded in slashing that figure to $8,000 a month, but the Oscar winner was made to pay him an additional 4.3 percent of any annual income she made over $1.95million.

Now, new filings obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com reveal Berry – who makes a reported $10million per movie – has managed to cap that amount at $4.5million.

Halle Berry (pictured left in 2022) and ex-partner Gabriel Aubry (pictured right in 2008) modified their child support deal for daughter in a May 15 filing that caps the actress’s additional payments at $4.5M

The exes have shared joint custody of their only child together, Nahla (pictured in 2009) since their split in 2010

That means the most she will have to hand over to her male model baby daddy each year on top of the monthly payments will be around $110,000 per year. 

‘Halle shall continue to pay Gabriel 4.3% of any income she receives above $1.95 million, as and for additional child support for Nahla, however, any additional payments of child support pursuant to this Paragraph shall not exceed $109,650 per year, which is the difference between 4.3% of $1.95 million and $4.5 million,’ the filing states.

‘The parties agree that additional child support over and above $109,650 per year would exceed Nahla’s reasonable needs.’

The court victory comes as Berry is expected to see hefty payouts for two potentially lucrative film projects in the works this year. 

She is currently filming action thriller, Our Man from Jersey, alongside Mark Wahlberg, while her Netflix sci-fi film, The Mothership, is set to be released later this year. 

Assuming she will earn $10million for each, she would have had to pay her ex an additional $860,000 of that income under the previous agreement.  

However, it’s not all good news for Berry as the modified pact, rubber stamped by Judge Michelle Kazadi on May 17, states that she still owes Aubry a $288,000 chunk of earnings for 2022, to be paid in monthly installments starting June 1.

The agreement, which remains in force until Nahla graduates from high school – or turns 19 if she’s still in school – raises hopes that the long-running custody feud between the pair is finally fizzling.

The couple began dating in 2005 after Berry’s divorce from second husband Eric Benet, and announced their split in 2010.  

‘She is, and will forever be, one of the most special and beautiful people that I have ever known, and I am certain that we will continue to have only love and respect for one another,’ Aubry gushed after the breakup.

They insisted they would ‘remain friends and committed parents’, but soon became embroiled in legal proceedings instead after Berry tried to relocate to France with Nahla to live with her now ex-husband Olivier Martinez.

Berry was originally ordered to pay her Canadian model ex $16,000 per month plus a lump sum of $115,000 when the pair first locked horns in  2014 

The pair’s breakup appeared to be amicable at first, but eventually turned ugly after Berry tried to relocate to France with Nahla to live with her new husband at the time 

The court order, obtained by DailyMail.com, states Berry will continue paying 4.3% of any additional income she earns over $1.95million, capped at $4.5million

According to the filing, both parents agreed that anything over $109,650 a year would ‘exceed Nahla’s reasonable needs’

Berry, who is currently dating the singer and musician Van Hunt, claimed her daughter would be better protected due to strict privacy rules in France – but a judge blocked the move.

During one custodial hand-over on the driveway of Halle’s home Martinez and Aubry were involved in a bust-up and were both treated for injuries. 

She also tried to bar Aubry from having any contact with Nahla in 2012 after cops investigated him for allegedly shoving his nanny through a door while she was holding the then-two-year-old girl.

The worker claimed she was left ‘psychologically traumatized’ but a judge denied her request for a restraining order and Aubry was never charged over the spat.

Berry has previously claimed that her child support payments should be slashed by as much as 80 per cent, accusing Aubry of ‘living off’ the payments she was sending him.

She also accused him of straightening and dying their daughter’s hair to make her look ‘more white’. A judge ruled that neither parent could change Nahla’s natural hair texture or color.

‘It was with regret that I concluded that I had to seek the court’s intervention on these issues,’ her lawsuit said.

‘But until Gabriel recognizes the meaning of joint legal custody and how it is implemented, it appears that the court will be my only resort to safeguard Nahla’s best interests.’ 

Berry, 56, has spent years embroiled in costly custody battles with the fathers of her two children, Nahla Ariela Aubry, 15, and Maceo Robert Martinez, nine (pictured in 2019)

Berry and Aubry began dating in 2005 after her divorce from second husband Eric Benet (left) and announced their split in 2010. She then married Oliver Martinez in 2013 but called it quits in 2016

The Oscar-winning actress has been in a relationship with singer and musician Van Hunt since 2020. They are pictured in September 2021

Berry was married to baseball player David Justice from 1993 to 1997 and R&B singer Eric Benet from 2001 to 2003.

She wed Martinez in 2013 but they announced they were splitting in 2015. Their divorce and custody arrangements are still being thrashed out behind closed doors in front of a private judge.

In a thinly veiled critique of the men in her life, Berry shared a meme on Instagram in 2021 which read ‘women don’t owe you s***’.

The Catwoman actress – who didn’t mention Aubry by name – opened up on her feelings about her huge child support bill and attacked the ‘outdated’ rules used to determine the amount.

‘It takes great strength eryday (sic) to pay it. and BTW it’s wrong and it’s extortion!’ she wrote.

‘I’ve been paying it for a decade now. I feel if a woman or man is having to pay support that is way more than the reasonable needs to help SUPPORT the child, I think that is wrong!

‘I understand some parents (man or woman) may need help, but i also feel in these modern times both men and women have the responsibility to financially take care of their children and work hard and make every effort to do so.’

Berry added: ‘The way many laws are set up, people are allowed to USE children in order to be awarded money to live a lifestyle that not only did they not earn, but that is way above and beyond the child’s reasonable needs and that is ‘THE WRONG’ and where i see the abuse.’

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