MadameNoire
Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
Recently, Halle Berry shared a message that should have been straight forwards and non-controversial. It was a simple 5-word sentence: “Women don’t owe you sh*t.”
She captioned the post, using a quote from the newly minted internet star Durrell Smylie, “and that’s on Mary had a little lamb.”
And what should have been something easy to digest turned into a discussion on Berry’s dating and marriage history.
On The Shade Room, I saw someone respond, “That’s why Halle can’t keep a man.”
You’ve heard this insult before. It’s lodged at women when there is nothing else people can say about them. After all, Halle Berry is beautiful, successful and has the money to back it up. And in this patriarchial, misogynistic society where romantic relationships with men are arguably overvalued, being in one is the ultimate stamp of approval from society.
So the fact that Berry has been married and divorced several times, with a series of boyfriends, people—men and women alike—tend to hold that over her head as if it speaks to a character flaw.
I thought that the trash talking would only take place on blogs and forums where Berry likely wouldn’t be.
But apparently, one man was bold enough to share this same sentiment under Halle’s picture on Instagram.
And lucky for him, not only did Berry see his comment, she responded.
Like the man on The Shade Room, this one wrote: “Says the woman who can’t keep a man.”
Berry said, “who says I wanna keep the wrong man? cuz…I don’t [heart emoji] [praying hands emoji]”
The screenshots of this exchange were captured by theJasmineBrand.
Personally, I’m still trying to figure out what women not owing anyone anything had to do with Berry’s relationship status. But thankfully, she didn’t let that rudeness go unchecked.
Hopefully other men will learn from his error in judgment.
