The False Rumor About Halle Berry & Billy Bob Thornton Everyone Believes

Halle Berry is ready to set the record straight about one of the most talked about moments in her career. While talking with fellow actor Dax Shepard on his podcast, "Armchair Expert," Berry strolled down memory lane, going over some of her most memorable roles, including "Monster's Ball." In the 2001 film, Berry played widow Leticia Musgrove, who began a steamy romance with corrections officer Hank Grotowski, played by Billy Bob Thorton, before discovering he had assisted in executing her husband.

The role not only made Berry the first Black woman to win an Oscar for "Best Actress," but the film's explicit sex scene led to rumors that she and her co-star had been hooking up during filming. "There's an urban legend that we really were f***ing. I've heard it, and it's just not true," she said. "It's secretly driven me mad all these years." Berry added that Thorton was married to Angelina Jolie at the time, and she never would have slept with someone else's man.

Berry did talk about how much she loved Thorton as a person; Shepard agreed, sharing a story about an outing with his wife Kristen Bell and Thorton, where the older actor completely charmed Bell, much to her husband's delight.

During the "Armchair Expert" podcast, Halle Berry also made it clear that she did not date former co-stars Spike Lee and Eddie Murphy, whom she starred alongside in 90s classics "Jungle Fever" and "Boomerang," respectively. However, her actual dating history has been plagued by public drama, which includes her three marriages to former MLB star David Justice, R&B singer Eric Benet, and French actor Oliver Martinez, with whom she shares her youngest child, son Maceo. Berry also shares daughter Nahla with former model Gabriel Aubry, who also dated Kim Kardashian.

But in 2020, Berry started a romance with musician Van Hunt. The two met virtually during quarantine and got to know each other over the phone for four months. In September 2020, rumors began to swirl about their involvement after Berry was spotted wearing some of his tour merchandise; the two revealed their relationship and have spoken publicly about their love story (though, don't count on them getting married). In an interview with AARP: The Magazine, Berry explained, "We were forced to let only our brains connect and discover if we had a connection before our bodies decided to get involved." The "X-Men" star added that she fell in love with Hunt's mind and their conversations.

The pair have shared photos of each other on social media, including a sweet Father's Day post on Instagram, which Berry captioned, "I can't imagine a world without you!" They are so sweet!