Halle Berry slams Gavin Newsom over broken promises to women, casts doubt on presidential ambitions

CLEVELAND, OHIO: Halle Berry called out Gavin Newsom for failing to follow through on his promises, while also casting doubt on his potential presidential ambitions.

Their feud began in November 2025 when she co-wrote an opinion piece in Time Magazine criticizing Newsom for vetoing the Menopause Care Equity Act, a bipartisan bill meant to ensure insurance coverage for proven treatments. Then in December 2025, she intensified her criticism, publicly blasting Newsom at the New York Times DealBook Summit.

Halle Berry tells Gavin Newsom to 'wake up'

Halle Berry, 59, told The Cut for a cover story published on Monday, February 2, “It’s disturbing when people say they’re going to do things and then they don’t. But he heard what I said. If he is going to run to be our next president, he can’t sleep on women. Wake up, Gavin.”

The 'Catwoman' actress made these comments just two months after she criticized the California governor, 58, in December 2025 for shutting down the Menopause Care Equity Act, which aimed to expand insurance coverage for proven menopause treatments.

“Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one but two years in a row,” Berry told the audience at the New York Times DealBook Summit on December 3, 2025. “But that’s OK, because he’s not going to be governor forever, and the way he has overlooked women, half the population, by devaluing us, he probably should not be our next president either. Just saying." 

"At this stage in my life, I have zero f****ng to give," the actress bluntly expressed.

Halle Berry calls out Gavin Newsom's double standards

At the summit, Halle Berry also criticized Gavin Newsom for double standards. She argued that if men experienced the same issues, the response would be very different, citing the menopause bill.

“If men had a medical condition that disrupted their sleep, brain function, and sex life, we’d be calling that a health crisis on par with Covid, and the whole world would shut down," she said.

Berry said women navigating perimenopause and menopause affect more than themselves, impacting households, workplaces, and the economy, with one in six leaving work due to symptoms.

She added, “When women are struggling silently through perimenopause and menopause, trying to hold their families, careers, relationships, and communities together, it doesn’t just affect women, it affects every household. It affects the workplace; it affects the economy. One in six women leaves the workplace due to their menopausal symptoms. So it affects everybody.”

Gavin Newsom's response to Halle Berry’s criticism over menopause bill move

Gavin Newsom tried to clear the air just one day later while speaking with reporters at Newark Airport in New Jersey. He said he had spoken with Berry’s manager and that the actress wasn’t aware his administration planned to include funding for the proposal in the 2026-2027 budget.

"We have the ability to reconcile that, so we’re reconciling. I’ve included it in next year’s budget. She didn't know that. ” Newsom told a reporter. “We already were in the process of fixing it."

The bill at the center of their dispute, AB 432, would require insurance to cover medically necessary menopause and perimenopause treatments, push doctors to complete continuing education on menopause, and direct the medical board to develop a detailed curriculum.