An aging Halle Berry decided to celebrate her body by sharing a photo with her fans. Most of the comments were positive, but a few haters criticized the actress. That’s when the Oscar winner hit back at her haters.
Halle Berry, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in “Monster’s Ball,” made headlines after she decided to address the critics who attacked her for posing nude at the age of 56. It all started when Berry took to social media to post a photo of herself standing naked on a balcony while drinking a glass of wine.
“I do what I wanna do,” the actress wrote alongside the image on Twitter and Instagram. Although most of the comments Berry received in response were positive, with fans praising her for her beauty, one comment on Twitter, in particular, was so negative that she felt the need to respond to it.
“Imagine being in your 50s, still posting nudes for attention in menopause when you should be chilling with the grandkids,” the comment in question read before adding, “Aging with dignity is no longer a thing.”
According to Fox News, Berry responded by retweeting her hater’s post with her own comment. “Did you guys know the heart of a shrimp is located in its head?” Berry wrote in response. The post has since been deleted, but not before social media users had a field day with it.
“You won the internet today with this clap back,” singer Audra McDonald told Berry.
“Imagine getting mad because a beautiful woman is proud of her body, couldn’t be me,” another fan wrote.
“Please enjoy your best life and let them hate,” a third posted.
“As someone roughly your age.. keep living your best life and sharing whatever the heck you want when you want,” someone else commented.
Besides the one harsh comment, Berry seemed mostly unfazed by the entire situation, taking to social media the next day to celebrate with a photo of herself walking down a beach in an animal-print dress.
Berry has previously been open about enjoying the aging process, telling AARP that she feels very satisfied with the life she has in her 50s. “I’ve got my babies, my career, and finally have love in a real, meaningful way,” she said at the time. “For the first time in my life, everything is firing on all cylinders.”
Unlike many other Hollywood stars who desperately try to look young by getting plastic surgery, Berry says she prefers to grow old gracefully. “I refuse to become someone who just tries to hold onto a youthful face,” she said. “And not embrace what’s most important about being beautiful — how you live your life, how you give back to others, how you connect to people, how you strengthen your mind, body, and soul and nourish yourself, how you give in a meaningful way of yourself,” she continued.
“The most beautiful people have something radiating inside,” Berry explained. “We’re all going to get older. Our skin is going to shrivel up and we’re going to look different. I see things changing with my face and body, but I’ve never put all my eggs in that basket. I’ve always known that beauty is deeper than the physical body you’re walking around in.”
As an aging woman, Berry refuses to allow herself to be silenced or erased just because she is getting older. Instead, she believes older women are valuable and should be treated as such. “Women are told that when we reach a certain number, we’re no longer valuable,” Berry alleged. “I believe the opposite. Society should look at us as jewels as we get older. Because the older women get, the more formidable we are.”
While most people would agree with Halle Berry’s sentiments on aging, was her nude public photo posted on a public forum for all to see in bad taste and over the top? You can decide that for yourself. However, whether you support the Oscar winner posing nude or not, her message about embracing the aging process is something that we can all get behind. Aging Hollywood stars should embody the message that growing older is something to be celebrated, not ashamed of.
