David Justice is opening up about the “issues” that led to his split from ex-wife Halle Berry.
During an Aug. 7 interview on Matt Barnes’ “All the Smoke” podcast, the former pro baseball star, 59, said that a few months after he and Berry tied the knot in January 1993, he began considering the idea of starting family — which is when his doubts about the couple’s future kicked in.
“My knowledge and my understanding, my wisdom around relationships just wasn’t vast,” Justice said. “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 — traditional, you know?”
Justice said, at the time, he also had doubts about Berry being the right kind of mom for his children.
“Then I’m thinking, ‘OK, if we have kids, is this the woman I want to have kids with and build a family with?’” Justice continued. “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 recalled that Berry, who turns 59 on Aug. 14, proposed to him about five months after their first date. “I said OK, but I don’t know if my heart was really into it. But I didn’t want to make her feel bad and say no,” he said.
“I was just in the moment. It caught me off guard,” he added. “But I was like, ‘Cool. We get along. We vibing.’”
The former Atlanta Braves outfielder said he and the “X-Men” franchise star ultimately parted ways in 1996 because they spent too much “time apart.” They finalized their divorce the following year.
“She was doing movies in this country, that country. And we honestly probably could have made it if I knew about therapy,” he explained.
Justice went on to marry his second wife, Rebecca Villalobos. The couple walked down the aisle in 2001 and share three children.
Berry tied the knot two more times — first to musician Eric Benét, to whom she was married from 2001 to 2005, and later to actor Oliver Martinez. Her third marriage lasted from 2013 to 2016. The mom of two shares a son, Maceo, 11, with Martinez and a daughter, Nahla, 17, with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.
In September 2020, Berry went public with her romance with musician Van Hunt.
“I think everybody’s been really happy, at least for me personally, people have been like, ‘You finally found … !’ I’ve always wanted what we have,” Berry said in June 2025 during a joint appearance with Hunt on TODAY with Jenna & Friends.
She added, “I always saw myself in a committed, loving relationship with like my best friend, someone that I respect and I love.”
Backstage, Hunt told TODAY.com he’d popped the question to Berry in the past and was still waiting on an answer.
“It’s just out there floating. You know, maybe you can encourage her,” the musician joked.
On her end, Berry said she was in no hurry to rush back up the aisle.
“Well, I’ve been married three times. Van has been married once, and so no, we don’t feel like we have to get married to validate our love in any way. We don’t,” she explained.
“But 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,” she added.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
