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Former MLB star David Justice is breaking his silence on the end of his marriage to Halle Berry, shedding light on the personal and professional differences that led to their 1997 divorce. In a candid interview on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes on August 7, 2025, the 59-year-old Atlanta Braves alum revealed how mismatched expectations about family and domestic life strained their relationship, sparking reflection just five months after their 1993 wedding.
Justice recalled questioning whether Berry, now 58, was the right partner for building a family. “My knowledge and my understanding, my wisdom around relationships just wasn’t vast,” he admitted. “So, I’m looking at my mom — and I’m a Midwest guy.
So, in my mind, I’m thinking a wife at that time should cook, clean, [be] traditional, you know? Then I’m thinking, ‘OK, if we have kids, is this the woman I want to have kids with and build a family with?’ At that time, as a young guy — she don’t cook, don’t clean, don’t really seem like motherly, and then we start having issues.”
Justice and Berry’s romance began in May 1992, when the actress proposed marriage after just five months of dating. “She asked me to marry her after knowing me for five months,” Justice said. “I said OK, because I couldn’t say no. Who’s going to say no at that time?” He confessed uncertainty about his commitment, adding, “I don’t know if my heart was really into it, but I didn’t want to make her feel bad and say no, you know, or [if] I was just in the moment.”
The couple, married on New Year’s Day 1993, enjoyed a “honeymoon state” until mid-1993, when Justice began to see their differences more clearly. As Berry’s acting career soared with films like Boomerang and The Flintstones, the couple spent significant time apart. “We spent a lot of time apart because she was doing movies in this country, that country,” Justice explained. “And we honestly probably could have made it if I knew about therapy. If we knew about therapy, we probably could have made it.”
The marriage faced public scrutiny by 1996, when Justice initiated the separation. “We didn’t receive a lot of negative attention until I decided to leave her in 1996,” he noted. Reflecting on their challenges, he added, “We never had any major issues like that. It’s just… because I was young and had only been in one real relationship before her.”
Berry’s Perspective and Current Life
Representatives for Berry, who is currently dating singer-songwriter Van Hunt, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Berry has previously addressed misconceptions about her romantic history. On The Drew Barrymore Show in February 2025, she pushed back against claims she “can’t keep a man,” stating, “Who’s to say I want to keep a man? I don’t want to keep the wrong man. Like, I’m not crazy, right? So when you find that you make a mistake — we all make mistakes. We have a right to say, ‘Oh God, this was a mistake. Let me start again.’ We have the right to do that.”
Berry’s relationship with Hunt, which went public in September 2020, has reached a new milestone. In a June 2025 interview with Today.com, Hunt, 55, revealed he proposed to Berry, though she has not yet accepted the ring. “I put out the proposal, and it’s still on hold as you can see,” he said during their first joint interview on Today with Jenna & Friends on June 4. Berry added, “I think we will get married just because, out of the people I’ve been married to, this is the person I should have married. And I feel like I should, we should get married, but it’s not because we feel like we have to. I think it’s something that we would like to do, just because we want that expression.” When asked about timing, she replied, “Soon.”
Justice, who married Rebecca Villalobos Justice in 2001, is a father of three. He reflected on his youth and inexperience during his marriage to Berry, noting that therapy might have saved their relationship. Berry, meanwhile, has been married twice since—first to singer Eric Benét from 2001 to 2005, and then to actor Olivier Martinez from 2013 to 2015. She shares daughter Nahla, 17, with ex Gabriel Aubry, and son Maceo-Robert, 11, with Martinez.
Looking Ahead
Justice’s candid remarks offer a rare glimpse into the challenges of a high-profile marriage, highlighting how differing expectations can unravel even the most glamorous unions. Never miss a story—sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter for the latest celebrity news and human interest stories. Follow updates on CBS News to see how this reflection resonates with fans and shapes the ongoing narrative around Berry and Justice’s past in 2025.
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