Halle Berry’s First Husband Says Career and Independence Led to Their Split

For years there was speculation, but now former baseball star David Justice has revealed the true cause of the breakdown of his marriage to actress Halle Berry — and it's as surprising as it is old-fashioned.

The 58-year-old Oscar-winning actress wed the former–Major League Baseball player in 1993 but divorced him in 1997. Interviewing with Matt Barnes' All the Smoke podcast, the 59-year-old explained how his old-school ideas at the time were incompatible with Berry's independence and work obligations.

"My knowledge and my wisdom, my understanding about relationships just wasn't extensive. So, I'm looking at my mom, and I'm a Midwestern guy. So, in my head, I'm thinking a wife at that point 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 start a family with?' At that point, as a young man, she don't cook, don't clean, don't really act motherly, and then we begin having problems," Justice said.

Female First UK reports that Justice reported that the relationship did not receive much negative publicity until he decided to quit in 1996. He further alleged that Berry was the initiator of their engagement.

"She proposed to me after five months of knowing me. I told her OK, because I did not know how to say no. Who would say no at this point? I do not know if my heart was truly in it, but I did not want to make her unhappy and say no, you know, or (if) I was just in the moment," he said.

Justice acknowledged that Berry's globetrotting career as an actress created long periods of time apart, which only made matters worse. "We were apart a lot because she was working on movies in this country, that country. And we really probably could've worked through it if I knew about therapy. If we knew about therapy, we probably could have worked through it," he said.

Looking back at the breakup, he explained, "We never had any real problems like that. It's just because I was young and had only had one actual relationship prior to her.