Rumors of Wesley Snipes hitting Halle Berry so hard she almost lost her hearing resurface, here's how the scandal unfolded
The whispered accusations against Wesley Snipes being physically abusive to Halle Berry resurfaced again, after the actor attended the Golden Globes 2020 Awards on January 5. His appearance reminded viewers about his short-lived relationship with Berry back in the 90-s, and that he had allegedly "hit her so hard that she lost 80% of her hearing". People were not at all happy seeing Snipes and the internet went crazy. In interviews, Berry had revealed this piece of disturbing information, but never uncovered the mask of her assaulter.
So what's exactly the story behind these rumors?
In 1996, in a tell-all interview, Berry told People that her encounters with men had been far from amiable. She said she had been at the 'receiving end' of manipulations and deceit in her relationships. In 1991, her failed relationship with Wesley Snipes, "left her crying all the time," a production assistant had told People. Berry then spoke about a scarring incident, without revealing the name. A boyfriend, she said, someone well-known in Hollywood circles, had hit her so hard that her left ear-drum was punctured, leaving her 80% deaf in that ear. "I left so fast there were skid marks,” she said. "It never happened to me before – or since." The universe was benevolent to Berry, after this, for a while. A couple of months after this disturbed relationship, Berry found love in David Justice and they married in 1993. Yet, their happiness was short-lived, and bitterness began to corrode their relationship and soon, they called it quits in 1997.
After this, rumors began to circulate that David Justice had physically abused her, while others assumed it was R&B singer Christopher Williams, who she had dated from 1991 to 1992.
In 2004, Williams decided to set the record straight and told entertainment site Eurweb, according to E! Online, that it was Wesley Snipes who had hit her. "The stuff they wrote about [me] and Halle was totally false. They said something like I busted her eardrum, and I'm tired of it. I never said it [before] but I'm so tired of people thinking I'm the guy [who did it]. Wesley Snipes busted her eardrum, not me."
In 2011, Berry spoke about the incident again at The Mayors Fund Benefit in New York City, where she shared the experience of her father beating up her mother, and how she wanted to break the cycle in her life. "When I was a girl and my mother had the s–t kicked out of her, her self-esteem moved onto me. I devalued myself and thought I wasn’t worth it. I chose partners that mimicked my father. It was only when I was in an abusive relationship and blood squirted on the ceiling of my apartment and I lost 80% of my hearing in my ear that I realized, I have to break the cycle. I want women to stand up and break the silence and get rid of the shame and the fear and find a way to stand up for themselves. I never had to run to a shelter, but I did choose the wrong partners. Not always good men. Luckily, in recent years, I have been smart enough to hit the door when violence even becomes a possibility. That is something I will not tolerate."
With rumors getting stronger that David Justice had beaten Berry, Justice decided to put an end to all speculation and put out a series of tweets saying that he had never hit her.
He went on a now-deleted Twitter rant, "Reading the latest Halle Berry Reports, it wasn't me who hit Halle causing the ear damage. Halle has never said that I hit her."
He added using an abbreviation (WS) for Wesley Snipes: "When she first reported that she had been in abusive relationships, she wouldn’t name the “famous” former boyfriend (WS).."
And another tweet, "She was mad at me leaving the relationship so she and her Hollywood Team just tried to destroy my character. It had to be my fault, right?"
Halle Berry's ex-husband Eric Benet, to whom Berry was married from 2001 to 2004, gave the series of tweets a thumbs up and said that he was speaking the truth.
A day later, Justice changed his tune and "thanked" Halle Berry for quashing rumors, even though she hadn't. He wrote, "I just want to thank Halle for finally squashing all of the rumors in the past, that I had physically abused her, causing the hearing loss."
He added, "My intention was not to bash Halle, as I specifically said that Halle has NEVER verbally said it. I just wished that when the rumors were out."
He added some shade about Berry as well, "She could've quashed them at that time. I have 3 kids and a wife for 15 years. It was important that my kids knew that their dad didn't do."
Justice spoke to the Daily Mail about his initial Twitter rant, explaining, "I had to say something after reading about Halle’s recent marriage." Berry had just separated from Olivier Martinez, after two years of marriage.
Justice added, “So many years ago, I didn’t say anything about the accusations that I abused her, but now I have three children, ages, 15, 13 and 11, two boys and one girl, and they can read this stuff and they have friends who will read it as well, so I had to finally come out and say once and for all, I never hit Halle Berry.”
Berry and Snipes had worked together on 'Jungle Fever' (1991) and never worked with each other again.