Who Is Halle Berry’s Boyfriend? All About Van Hunt (and Why He’s Still Waiting on an Answer to His Proposal)

Five years into their relationship, Halle Berry and Van Hunt are as madly in love as ever. The actress and her singer-songwriter boyfriend met through one of her employees—Hunt’s brother—during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their physical isolation didn’t stop the two from falling for each other over text. In their first joint interview appearance on TODAY June 4, Berry shared the magic feelings that fueled their initial connection. 

“Before we ever got together in any physical kind of way, I had fallen madly in love just through talking, and telling, and sharing every single thing—all of our good, our bad, our dirty,” she said. “We were completely honest because we were in COVID, and who cares?”

When the duo did meet up in-person, their chemistry was undeniable. In a 2021 Instagram post on Hunt’s birthday, Berry shared a snap of the two embracing and smiling. “A real woman can do it all by herself, but a real MAN won’t let her. Happy birthday VanO. I only wish I’d known you sooner so I could have loved you longer!❤️,” the Oscar-winning actress gushed in the caption.

Fans couldn’t be happier for Berry, who was previously married three times prior to her relationship with Hunt. On TODAY, Hunt revealed he's already proposed but is still waiting for Berry's answer. “[W]e don’t feel like we have to get married to validate our love in any way. We don't,” Berry said of why she hasn't accepted his offer yet. "But I think we will get married just because, out of the people I’ve been married to, this is the person I should have married."

The Respin Health founder isn’t shy about sharing her love with the world. On Mother’s Day 2025, she uploaded a steamy video of the two in bed together to her Instagram, breaking the Internet in the process.

Who is the lucky guy that stole Halle Berry’s heart? Here’s everything we know about her very enamored boyfriend, Van Hunt.

He grew up in Ohio.

According to his artist bio from his label, Blue Note, Hunt is a native of Dayton, Ohio. Several sources report that he was raised by a single mother. His father, Van Hunt, Sr., worked in a factory and as a painter.

Early on, Hunt felt drawn to music, taking up the drums at the tender age of 7 according to Last.fm. Saxophone followed, then bass, keyboards, and guitar. The multi-instrumentalist left Ohio to attend an HBCU, Morehouse College, majoring in English—although he told Essence in 2020 that he was a “terrible student” before he dropped out to focus on his music career.

He’s a Grammy Award-winning artist.

While he’d been releasing his own music since 2004 (and songwriting professionally since the late ‘90s), it wasn’t until 2007 that Hunt nabbed a Grammy Award.  He won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals along with John Legend and Joss Stone for the trio’s moving cover of “Family Affair” by Sly & the Family Stone.

Although it was his first win, it wasn’t the artist’s first time being recognized in his field. His 2004 single “Dust,” off his self-titled debut album, landed him a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance, The New York Times reported. The award ultimately went to Damian Marley.

Hunt opened up about his musical influences to the Recording Academy in a 2014 interview. “Creatively I'm influenced by, as cliché as it is, life," he said. "I enjoy collecting memories and I take pages and pages of notes and compose them with the sounds that I hear."

He’s a dad.

Like Berry, Hunt is a parent. He has a son named Drake Hunt. While he keeps his child’s life out of the public eye, he’s hinted that Drake shares his affinity for music. In a 2020 Instagram post, the artist shared a sweet father-son snap, writing in the caption, “that one time i got to sing w/my kid0 [sic]. we performed 'Bring It On Home to Me' by Sam Cooke […] he stole the show from his ol' man and never gave it back ;-)”.

According to a more recent Instagram update, Hunt’s son released his debut EP, Heaven, in April 2025. The young artist makes music under the name Dali Rose. An interview with Drake ahead of the EP’s release revealed that he studied political science at NYU before following in his father’s footsteps as a musician.

Hunt has discussed bonding with Berry over the highs and lows of being a parent. “We do what we call downloading with each other, which is talking at the end of the night with a little glass of wine,” Hunt said during the couple’s June 2025 TODAY appearance. “It’s [us] telling each other—complaining about each other’s kids,” he added with a laugh.

The John Wick: Chapter 3 actress has two children: daughter Nahla Ariela Aubry, 17, and son Maceo-Robert Martinez, 11. She shares Nahla Ariela with ex-husband Gabriel Aubry and Maceo-Robert with ex-husband Olivier Martinez.

Getting her children's approval was important for Berry early on in her relationship with Hunt. In 2021, she opened up on Live with Kelly and Ryan about her son Maceo giving the couple his blessing by "marrying" them to one another. "This was a ceremony by an 8-year-old in the back seat of the car who said, 'Mom, you should get married to him.' I said, 'Really, I should marry him?'" Berry recalled. "[Maceo] said, 'Yeah, I pronounce you man and wife.' So we're like, 'Oh, okay. We're married!' But we're not married. So, that's our commitment ceremony."

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He considers Berry his muse.

In a rare interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2021, Hunt swooned over Berry. Asked by the host if he considered the actress his muse, he answered, “In more ways than I could even tell you right now… I’m a completely different person, I can say it like that, and I think that [our relationship] has improved every aspect of my life.”

It seems the smitten musician is already penning love songs for his girlfriend. In January 2024, he dropped the romantic single “Our Love Lingers.” Pictures of Hunt and Berry are spliced into the avant-garde music video for the track, which marks the debut release on the musician’s new self-founded label.

Berry made an Instagram post congratulating her partner on the track’s release, showing that the admiration goes both ways. “About damn time, @vanhunt! You’re so deserving of your OWN LABEL and I’m so proud of your music and your journey,” she wrote. “You continue to do it your way and sometimes that can be a lonely road. Help me celebrate my man today y’all, cuz our love is going to linger forever! 💜”

They went red-carpet official at the 2021 Oscars.

Talk about a hard launch. The amorous duo appeared together for the first time as a couple at the 2021 Academy Awards. Berry, a former Best Actress winner, strode down the carpet in a show-stopping mauve gown from Dolce & Gabbana and brand-new baby bangs. Hunt rocked a timeless Etro suit for the occasion.

During the ceremony, the Extant alum co-presented the Best Actress Oscar to Michelle Yeoh, who became the second woman of color to receive the honor after Berry’s 2002 win for Monster Ball.