Berry: I blamed tabloids for Benet infidelity

Hollywood actress Halle Berry initially blamed the media and the "other women" for "making up" reports of her now-estranged husband Eric Benet's infidelities.

The Oscar-winning beauty refused to believe the press claims that Benet was cheating on her with his former girlfriend Julia Riley, which were published only a month after her historic Best Actress Academy Award win.

Berry admits: "At first I didn't believe the stories. It felt like they'd either been made-up or exaggerated. There's so much inaccurate reporting that I didn't take them seriously enough.

"So I defended him. I stood by my man. I thought what we had together was beyond cheating or lying.

"I refused to believe the stories then and I was in denial for a long time. I didn't think anything had gone wrong. I felt it was all in the imagination of the other women."

After Benet admitted the reports were true, a devastated Berry decided to put their trouble behind them and enrol in couple counselling sessions.

However in October 2003, Berry announced she was ending their marriage, after less than three years, and has recently filed for divorce.