Halle Berry broke down a painful piece of her childhood during an impassioned speech at the Dealbook Summit 2025, and the story helped explain the fierce, unshakable woman she’s become.

The Oscar-winner told the crowd she’d been “very much bullied” growing up in Cleveland. She recounted a brutal moment when a group of classmates ambushed her at a bus stop.

“I got into so many fights, and sometimes I gave as good as I got, but most of the time I got beat up,” Berry said, before describing the day she was cornered by a gang of girls and boys who “said, ‘Girl, we going to beat your ass after school. You better not get off that bus.’” When the attack came, Berry remembered being punched, knocked out, and left humiliated. Her shirt ripped and she said her “little breast buds” were exposed to the boys. “I was humiliated because I had allowed myself to be treated this way. I made the choice to accept it,” she told the audience. 

Berry said that moment became a turning point. Walking home, she vowed: “No, I am never ever never I'm never going to allow this to happen to me again. And I am never not going to stand up for myself. I will never allow myself to be a victim like that.” From then on, she says she decided to “outthink” and “outwork” anyone who tried to diminish her. 

Berry’s DealBook talk doubled as activism. She used the platform to push for quality healthcare for menopausal women and publicly called out California governor Gavin Newsom for a lack of urgency around the Menopause Care Equity Act, tying her personal history of resilience to a broader policy fight.