Halle Berry asks trolls to have 'compassion' after backlash for allowing 6-year-old son to walk in heels
‘Catwoman’ actress, Halle Berry is not a stranger to backlash on social media. The 53-year-old actress is always on her toes when it comes to responding to trolls and followers when questioned.
She has a daughter, Nahla Ariela Aubry, 12, from her former boyfriend Canadian model Gabriel Aubry. In 2013, she conceived Maceo Martinez, 6, through her former marriage with actor Oliver Martinez. However, she is fiercely protective of the two.
Berry is an active user of social media and amid the coronavirus lockdown, she posted a video of her son, Martinez, wearing her high-heeled boots and walking around the house. Berry post attracted quite a few internet trolls, but she was quick to respond to her haters. A troller commented “Is this your daughter or son?” to which she responded, “Well it’s a he and he is having a ball. Tryna cope the best he can. Laughter helps a lot right now!”
Another Instagram user pointed out that “ He is not supposed to be in heels”, to which she replied trying to diffuse the barb, “Harmless fun. Tryna survive right now. You feel me?...Being shut in gets more comical everyday.”
Another supposedly concern person interjected saying that her son could break his bones, to which Berry replied, “'No broken bones ta-day. Thank God. But this quarantine is Real REAL!” She continued, “'It’s tight on these kids right now. Let’s have a laugh and some compassion yawl.”
However, some parents also shared how they relate to Berry right now since they are also allowing their kids to play and fool around a bit as they are coping with being cooped up in the house with children amid the pandemic scare.
But, despite the positive comments, this is not the first time that people have questioned her parenting skills and the way she presents her children on social media. In 2016, she posted a picture of her children but their faces were half cropped out. To this an Instagram user commented, wondering why she had cropped out her kids' faces in that post.
Berry commented saying, “I've noticed you have said this several times now, so let me be clear — I'm not at all ashamed of my children. I try to find creative ways to incorporate them into my feed because they are the biggest part of my life, but I also work very hard to keep their identities as private as I can considering they are only children."
"It's my belief, and I’m not criticizing others who have different beliefs, that it's my job as their mother to protect their privacy as best I can," she continued. "When they grow and they're of age and they want [to] share their images on the Internet, that will be for them to decide, not me. Feel me?"
In 2012, Parental Alienation Awareness (PAA) questioned her character as her mother, Berry has a known reputation of going to great lengths to get her children's custody. During her time with her former lover Aubry, she did everything in her power to try and get the sole custody of her daughter Nahla Aubry. PAA accused her of trying to get Aubry out of their lives so she could move to France with her then fling Oliver, whom she later married for a short while. She also refused to pay child support to Aubry as they had shared custody. PAA also called her out for trying to ‘own’ her daughter.
When it comes to her children, she can go to any lengths to respond to the nasty comments on social media. Users have not only targeted her children but also Berry herself. In 2019, she posted a picture on Instagram of her hand on which a butterfly is sitting, a user commented that “The hands of a construction worker”. This comment followed a thread of other fans joining in agreeing and commenting laughing emoji. Berry took is as a sport and responded, “I knew somebody was gonna crack on the hand”.