Film star Halle Berry has obtained a court order banning her ex-boyfriend from straightening or lightening the curly hair of their six-year-old daughter.
The Oscar-winning actress argued that former partner Gabriel Aubry, a French-Canadian model, had made changes to their child Nahla's locks which resulted in her looking less African-American. Berry is the daughter of a white mother from Liverpool and a black father. Aubry is white.
After hearing arguments from lawyers for both sides, a judge in Los Angeles decided no one should be allowed to alter the girl's hair and it should be allowed to grow naturally curly and dark again.
The evidence presented by Berry included time-lapse photographs showing how her daughter's hair had changed. She said Aubry had denied making the alterations so she had a strand analysed at a laboratory to obtain proof.
Berry claimed there could be 'psychological damage' to her daughter, who might wonder why her natural appearance was 'not good enough'. Aubry was in court but the actress did not attend and was represented by a lawyer. According to the celebrity news website TMZ there was a 'lot of arguing' in front of the judge. Berry and Aubry were in a relationship from 2005 to 2010 and their daughter became the subject of a bitter custody dispute. They now have joint custody.
The actress currently pays $16,000 (€12,800) a month in child support payments to Aubry but is seeking to reduce the amount.
She married actor Olivier Martinez last year and they have a son.
In 2012 both Aubry and Martinez were taken to hospital after they got into a fight with each other at Berry's home.
During the custody battle the actress told 'Ebony' magazine: 'I feel she (Nahla) is black. I'm black and I'm her mother, and I believe in the one-drop theory.
'I'm not going to put a label on it. I had to decide for myself and that's what she's going to have to decide, how she identifies herself in the world.' ( © Daily Telegraph, London)
Irish Independent
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