Halle Berry isn’t buying ex-husband Eric Benét’s previous claims that he battled a sex addiction.
“I had one husband who said he was a sex addict,” Berry, 58, said on the Monday, October 7, episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “But I don’t f–ing believe that s—.”
While Berry didn’t publicly name Benét, it was widely reported that the singer-songwriter, now 57, went to rehab for sex addiction in 2002.
Berry and Benét tied the knot in 2001 after two years of dating. The musician was by Berry’s side when she took home her historic Oscar win. However, things turned tumultuous for the pair after Berry learned that Benét was unfaithful throughout their relationship. Following the cheating allegations, Benét went to rehab.
However, things didn’t work out for Berry and Benét as they announced their decision to separate in 2003.
“Eric and I have had marital problems for some time now and have tried to work things out together,” Berry said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly at the time. “However, at this point, I feel we need time apart to reevaluate our union. We ask that you respect our privacy as we are going through this emotional time.”
Following the breakup, Benét claimed that he did not struggle with sex addiction.
“I am not a sex addict,” he said in a 2004 interview with ABC News. “I am a person who … through a series of emotional events, troubles, challenges, made some really, really stupid, painful mistakes.”
Benét and Berry’s divorce was finalized in 2005. Benét moved on with Manuela Testolini, whom he wed in July 2011. The couple share two daughters Lucia Bella, 12, and Amoura Luna, 10.
Berry, for her part, went on to date Gabriel Aubry from 2005 to 2010. The exes welcomed daughter Nahla Ariela in March 2008. Following her split from Aubry, Berry began a relationship with Olivier Martinez. The twosome wed in July 2013 and welcomed son Maceo-Robert in October of that same year. The actress and Martinez divorced in 2016.
After her split from Martinez, Berry found love with her current boyfriend, Van Hunt. The Oscar winner confessed that her relationship with the “Seconds of Pleasure” singer has been her “longest” to date. (Berry and Hunt began dating in 2020.)
“We celebrated when we hit four years like we had been married 20 years, that’s how big it was for me personally. He’s had long relationships, not me. … We both were scared,” she said on Monday. “He was waiting for the shoe to drop, and I was waiting to drop the f—ing shoe. Because I just can’t get past that. It’s been such a relief. ‘OK, yes, I can do this relationship thing.’ And he is my person and you just know it. And [he’s] calm and he’s what I’ve been dreaming of, searching for, needing.”
