In a revealing new interview that's sparking widespread discussion about traditional gender roles in modern marriages, Halle Berry's ex-husband, former MLB All-Star David Justice, has offered candid insights into why their high-profile marriage ultimately ended in divorce after just four years.
The retired baseball player, who tied the knot with the Oscar-winning actress in 1993 following a whirlwind celebrity romance, appeared on Thursday's episode of the popular All The Smoke podcast where he reflected with surprising honesty about their relationship's breakdown and what might have saved it.
Justice painted a picture of early marital bliss that quickly gave way to sobering realizations, recalling: "We started in that honeymoon state where everything was great." However, he admitted that traditional expectations from his Midwest upbringing soon clashed with the realities of being married to a rising Hollywood star.
"In my mind at that time, I'm thinking a wife should cook, clean, be more traditional," Justice explained. "Then I started thinking, 'Okay, if we have kids, is this the woman I want to have kids with?'" The former athlete noted that Berry "didn't cook, didn't clean, didn't really seem motherly" - factors that created growing tension in their relationship.
In one of the interview's most surprising revelations, Justice disclosed that it was actually Berry who proposed to him after just five months of dating in 1992. While he accepted, the baseball star confessed: "I couldn't say no... I didn't want to make her feel bad," suggesting he may have had reservations even at the engagement stage.
The couple's demanding careers became another major stressor, with Justice describing how Berry's acting projects took her globetrotting while his baseball schedule kept him constantly traveling. "We spent a lot of time apart... she was doing movies in this country, that country," he recalled, painting a picture of two ships passing in the night.
Looking back with the wisdom of hindsight, Justice believes the marriage might have been salvageable with professional intervention: "We honestly probably could have made it if I knew about therapy. If we knew about therapy, we probably could have made it." This poignant reflection highlights how differently the couple might have navigated their differences with today's more common acceptance of marital counseling.
The former couple first met under quintessentially 90s Hollywood circumstances - after Berry spotted Justice playing in an MTV celebrity baseball game in 1992 and had a mutual acquaintance pass her number to the dashing athlete. Their romance burned bright but fast, ultimately succumbing to the pressures of fame, distance, and fundamentally mismatched expectations about marital roles.
The interview has sparked vigorous debate across social media about evolving gender norms, with some criticizing Justice's traditional views while others empathize with his honesty about what he needed from a partner at that stage of his life.
Watch the full revealing interview segment below...
Halle Berry's ex-husband, former MLB player David Justice, says he left because he couldn't see her as the mother of his kids:
"She don't cook, clean, don't really seem motherly" pic.twitter.com/eVhwvnhmUL
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) August 10, 2025
As the conversation continues to unfold online, many are noting how both Justice and Berry have evolved since their split - with Berry going on to have children in subsequent relationships and Justice gaining perspective on marriage through life experience. The interview serves as a fascinating time capsule of 90s celebrity relationships and how much has changed in three decades.