Halle Berry reveals why she avoided interviews for decade

Halle Berry has said she avoided giving interviews for around a decade after becoming frustrated with repeated media coverage of her personal life.

The actor, 59, discussed the decision in a recent interview with The Cut while promoting her upcoming film Crime 101. Berry said the coverage intensified following her third divorce, with tabloid narratives focusing on her relationships.

“After my third divorce, people started to say, ‘What’s wrong with her? She’s crazy. She can’t keep a man,’” Berry said.

Despite a career spanning more than three decades, Berry said many interviews focused primarily on her personal life rather than her professional work.

The actor became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress and remains the only one to have done so.

“I pretty much stopped doing interviews for a decade because I got tired of the same old story,” Berry said. “It was always: 'Poor Halle — Unlucky in Love Again.'”

During the interview, Berry was asked what headline she would prefer about herself. She first suggested “Halle Berry Is Not a Damsel in Distress”, then “Halle Berry Is Not a Victim of Failed Relationships”, before settling on “Halle Berry Never Said It's Anyone Else's Fault”.

Berry has recently become more open to discussing both personal and professional developments. In February, she announced her engagement to musician Van Hunt during an appearance on The Tonight Show.

Addressing coverage of the engagement, Berry clarified reports about her response to the proposal.

“There's some confusion,” she said. “It's going around that I, that my guy Van Hunt — I've been dating him now for almost six years — well, there's some confusion that he asked to marry me and I said no. I did not say no.”

Berry currently stars in Crime 101 alongside Chris Hemsworth and has several projects in development, including the action thriller Maude v Maude with Angelina Jolie.

Reflecting on her career, Berry said: “As a Black woman, now almost 60, I still get to work in movies and do what I love. I’m winning.”