Halle Berry opens up about ‘pain and anguish’ of divorce

Halle Berry has opened up about her disappointment at having three failed marriages.
The 50-year-old Monster’s Ball star appeared at the 2017 City Summit and Gala at the USC Tower in Los Angeles on Saturday (11Feb17), and didn’t hold back when discussing her love life.
Halle was previously married to baseball player David Justice, singer Eric Benet and most recently French actor Olivier Martinez, with whom she shares three-year old son Maceo. The couple’s divorce was finalised in December (16). The Oscar-winning actress also has an eight-year-old daughter, Nahla, with model Gabriel Aubry.
“I have learned to deal with three failed marriages, which has not been easy, especially when there’s children involved,” she said during her powerful speech. “(As) women, we go into marriage thinking it’s going to last forever and that this is our prince on a shiny horse. That’s what fairytales taught me as a kid… and I’m kind of anti-fairytales today.”
Halle, who was the keynote speaker at the event, confessed her heartbreak has been embarrassing, and made her feel like a failure. “But we go in there with that hope, so when it falls apart it feels like a huge failure and a huge disappointment. I’ve often felt guilty and responsible. I’ve suffered a lot of pain and anguish,” she added.
The mother-of-two continued, “In every one of those situations, as hard – and sometimes embarrassing – as it was, I learned so much about myself. All of those relationships were necessary for me. We all come here with lessons that we have to learn and those relationships provided me with lessons that got me to where I am right now. For that, I’m grateful. But it has been hard. It’s been a difficult part of my life.”
Right now, the actress is focused on her children, and she’s aware she has to teach them some valuable life lessons. “Being mom is my most important job and I now know that everything I do, everything I say and everything I offer them is really important,” Halle explained. “I say lots of things, but I think what’s more important is that my children watch what I do.”
“I’m more mindful of how I live my life and what they see me do,” she added. “If I want them to be kind, I have to show them kindness. If I want them to be curious, I have to show them my own curiosity. If I want them to be smart, I have to show that I’m continuing to learn every day.”