Halle Berry Says She Was Discouraged from Discussing Menopause in Her Career: ‘There’s Nothing Wrong with Me’

Mar. 15, 2025

Halle Berry.Photo:courtesy of Respin

courtesy of Respin

Halle Berrydoesn’t care what talking about menopause will do to her career.

On Feb. 18, the Oscar winner appeared on theToday Showto discuss her new company,Respin Health, which focuses on building a community for women navigating menopause. “When women have access to a robust community of like-minded women, they automatically start to do better,” the 58-year-old says.

Saturday TODAYco-anchor Laura Jarrett noted that although it sounds “ridiculous,” it feels like menopause is finally having a moment, with more people willing to have conversations about it.

Berry said at first she was discouraged from pursuing the passion project: “Sadly, people said to me, ‘Are you sure you want to talk about that? Do you want to align yourself with menopause? Do you worry how that will affect your career?’ And I said, ‘No.’”

“And that’s exactly why I should be talking about it because there’s nothing wrong with me being in my mid-life,” the actress continued. “There’s nothing wrong with being 58, and you have to stop telling me there’s something wrong with me. And I’m going to prove to you that it’s not. And so women, we have to work together to destigmatize this time of life and change culture.”

Halle Berry.courtesy of Respin

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

TheCatwomanstar encouraged other women going through menopause to lean into their health more and understand what’s happening to their bodies.

“Women find when they start educating themselves that they can make decisions from a place of power, and then they feel empowered and they don’t feel so hopeless during this half,” she explained. “It’s not time to sit down. It’s time to reinvent. It’s time to have a beautiful, glorious second act. We can still be our fabulous selves, but we have to learn how.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

During menopause, Berry added, “everything about our body changes, right? But that’s not to be feared. We just need education to navigate that time.”

“I can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday than fighting for all women,” she continued. “Can’t wait to get there.”

source: people.com