More than two decades after their split, David Justice digs into what went wrong in his brief marriage to Halle Berry. In a candid discussion, he shares how early expectations and differing life paths seeded doubts that would eventually undermine their union.
He reflects on how their relationship faltered under the pressure of Hollywood and traditional beliefs. With careers pulling them in opposite directions and mismatched visions of domestic life, the emotional distance between them began growing just months after tying the knot.
Looking back, the former MLB star admits that youth and inexperience played big roles in their divorce. He wishes they’d recognized the need for support: therapy, he says, might have bridged the gap if they’d had access to it or prioritized it during those turbulent early years.
David Justice opens up the real story behind his marriage and divorce from Halle Berry
David Justice’s marriage to Halle Berry was one of the most talked-about celebrity relationships of the 1990s. They met in 1992, quickly fell into a whirlwind romance, and were married the following year.
From the outside, it looked like a perfect pairing: a Hollywood A-lister and a Major League Baseball star at the height of their fame. But according to the former Atlanta Braves player, the fairytale began to unravel just months into the marriage.
Halle Berry attends the 2025 Chopard Universe Dinner at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival — David Justice attends the 2022 Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala. (Source: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images — Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
He brought with him a set of traditional views about marriage and family life—expectations that didn’t always align with her lifestyle. He admitted that around the five-month mark, doubts began to surface, according to People.
“If we have kids, is this the woman I want to have kids with and build a family with?” he recalled on the All the Smoke podcast. “At that time… she don’t cook, don’t clean, don’t really seem like motherly, and then we start having issues.”
He said the relationship’s foundation was shaky from the start, partly because of how quickly it moved. Berry had proposed just five months after meeting him. “I don’t know if my heart was really into it, but I didn’t want to make her feel bad and say no, you know, or [if] I was just in the moment”, he confessed.
That uncertainty, coupled with their demanding careers—which often kept them in different countries—made it difficult to maintain a strong connection. Looking back, Justice believes the marriage might have survived if they had sought counseling early on.
David Justice and Halle Berry. (Source: @BuzzingPop)
“If we knew about therapy, we probably could have made it”, he reflected. He also points out that their split wasn’t the result of any explosive incident, but rather a gradual realization that their visions for the future were incompatible.
However, the end of their marriage brought another challenge: years of rumors linking him to allegations of maltreatment. She had previously mentioned a past partner who caused her partial hearing loss, though she never named Justice.
Still, he says the public often assumed it was him. “Over the past 20 years, I’ve heard people saying, ‘Isn’t that the dude who hit Halle Berry in the head?’” he shared. “I never hit her”. While he had hoped Berry would publicly clear his name, she never addressed it directly.
Today, Halle has moved on and is in a relationship with musician Van Hunt, who proposed in 2024. Justice, meanwhile, has been married to Rebecca Villalobos since 2001 and is focused on his family.
