Halle Berry said she still remembers “every detail” of ex-husband Eric Benèt’s cheating scandal that rocked her world over 20 years ago.
As she applauded Gayle King for sharing her story of infidelity on Thursday’s episode of “Today with Jenna and Sheinelle,” the Oscar winner, 59, reflected on how “therapeutic” it was to talk about the experience.
“I’m proud of her for, you know, saying that and sharing this, that happened, because it has happened to many of us,” Berry said.
She continued: “You remember every detail of the whole situation, and it stays with you forever. So when you can share it somehow, that’s therapeutic.”
“It’s a catharsis, when you can really share it and someone else can say what their experience has been. So I appreciate her.”
Sheinelle Jones then asked Berry if she ever felt she had to “hide” from the shame of the scandal that took place before she felt like she could address it.
“I couldn’t hide, it was all over the news. I didn’t talk about it necessarily, very publicly. But I did talk about it. I did not carry the shame. I talked about it with my friends. I talked about it with other women,” Berry answered.
“There were children involved. So, I didn’t go on a public rampage about things. But I did talk about it and it was very, very helpful,” she explained.
Berry was married to Benèt from 2001 to 2005, during which time, Benèt confessed that he had cheated.
In 2002, he checked himself into a 35-day rehabilitation program for sex addicts, which he later told People he did because he “wanted to save my marriage and do anything necessary to do that.”
Though, Berry, who has since moved on with musician Van Hunt, appeared on a 2024 episode of Dax Shephard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast and called BS on the “Spend My Life With You” musician’s claims that he was a sex addict.
As for King, she discussed the time she caught her ex-husband, William Bumpus, cheating on her with a close friend during her appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I came home and caught him,” she told host Alex Cooper of her ex, whom she was married to from 1982 to 1993.
She recalled telling the unnamed woman: “’I can’t believe that you are here and that you are doing this. I can’t believe that you are doing this.’ And I even said, ‘I thought we were friends!’ It sounded so pitiful.”
The journalist first spoke out about the incident in 2016. Her ex has publicly apologized for his infidelity.
Read the full article here
