Halle Berry’s French Dips Make For a Dark Thanksgiving

There’s one thing that makes celebrities just like the rest of us: children. A fight between old guy and new guy over the affections of a littel girl and her angry mother sheds light on the truth that despite fame, money, and status, kids can make us all act the same.

On Thanksgiving, just before 10 o’clock in the morning, Gabriel Aubry, a French-Canadian male model from Montreal dropped off his four-year-old daughter at his ex-girlfriend’s house in Los Angeles. Aubry, despite being good looking and wealthy, has had a rough couple of years, personally. Two years ago, his ex-girlfriend, Academy Award winning actress, Halle Berry, dumped him for Unfaithful star, real Frenchman, Olivier Martinez. Since then Aubry’s gone to court several times to get a joint custody agreement for his now four-year-old daughter, Nahla. Berry and Martinez want to move to France together and take the little girl with them. Autry recently won a judgement preventing that.

Six years ago, I was Gabriel Aubry, except not nearly as handsome or rich. After a bitter divorce with a then three-year-old daughter, her mother decided to move on with someone else and wanted to take our girl along for the ride. It was only two towns away, not France, but the negativity was out of control.

Autry showed up with attitude in hand. Olivier Martinez answered the door and let Nahla inside. Then, Frenchman on Frenchman crime went down. Martinez, in his Frenchy way, told Aubry that “everywuun shood mooo ahm”. Aubry, sick of seeing his ex and her new boyfriend that his daughter got to call dad, snapped. He went after Martinez and lost. According to the police report, Martinez got the best of Aubry, pinned him down and in something I only remember happening on The Andy Griffith Show, made a “citizen’s arrest”.

I’m grateful I never have let my emotions get the best of me where I ended up in jail, bailed on on a twenty-thousand dollar bond with a restraining order against me, disallowing me to see my daughter until December 3rd. But that’s what faces Gabriel Aubry.

Should Aubry have slugged Martinez even though he was being all French? No. Violence sets a bad example for his daughter. Also, Hollywood loves Halle Berry so he’ll just look like a bad guy, because, technically, he’s French, too. But I empathize with Aubry. His ex hates him and out of spite she’s trying to take his daughter away with a new jerk of a guy. Now Aubry needs a good lawyer, maybe a publicist, and hope his little girl doesn’t remember any of this .

I know holidays in a blended or as some would say, broken, family situation. Your kids don’t always get to be with you when you want them to. There’s always hard feelings from some side and no one understands the nuances of the whole thing. Halle Berry called the police on Aubry. Martinez got the best of the fight and went along with the restraining order. Celebrities are just like us; spiteful, complicated, ridiculous, and wrong. Let’s hope little Nahla rises above this.