Woah.

This sh-t between Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry is escalating quickly, like even by celebrity standards. She threw down the first public salvo in a statement to People.com on Monday implying that he’s an unfit parent and that baby Nahla isn’t safe around him for long stretches. His supporters then leaked to Radar Online that she’s a controlling bitch who’s been spying on him and is jealous about all the new hot ass he’s been getting.

Last night, Aubry’s people talked to Access Hollywood in response to Halle’s suggestion that he’s irresponsible with their daughter, claiming he’s the one who’s being classy about the situation:

“While Gabriel is disappointed in Halle’s decision to falsely malign him publicly and for her own purposes, he refuses to be pulled into her dispute over a canceled film production. Gabriel also refuses to air their issues in the press as he believes this may ultimately harm their daughter. The fact is that Gabriel is a caring father who shares custody of Nahla. Gabriel fully believes that a consistent and balanced living situation and two loving parents are crucial for their child even if Ms. Berry feels otherwise. He will always defend his rights as a father and will always consider Nahla’s best interest. Halle’s continuing allegations in the press are untrue and irresponsible.”

Now People Magazine has put Halle’s custody war on their new cover, with new quotes from inside Halle’s camp characterising Gabriel as potentially violent, and maybe even a racist???

Some dude Aubry’s friend and business partner Stephane Bibeau spoke on the record:

"Once they broke up (Gabriel) became verbally threatening to Halle. He is a vindictive guy."

Bibeau also says that Aubry dropped a “racial slur” on Halle after the split. Supposedly, according to People, other sources corroborate this. TMZ is also participating in the Gabriel group hate. They’ve heard from his former lover, an investment banker called Page, who says that she always knew Gabriel was a dick:

"Gabriel's entire motivation has always been money. I tried to warn Halle early on but I guess she didn't want to believe it." Page also provided a voice message Gabriel once left her, cussing her out for an unexplained transgression. Click here to listen.

But a scorned girlfriend and business partner might not be the most reliable witnesses. Team Gabriel insists that it’s always been Halle who’s had the power, and that she’s using it right now to run him out of town, that she’s a vicious bitch and that the game she’s playing is tantamount to character assassination. Says his friend:

"I never saw someone more dedicated to their child (as Gabriel). From the beginning, Halle kind of had the upper hand because she was essentially supporting all of them for the most part. Gabriel never liked how that felt. Their split was tough because they're both so involved in raising Nahla, and neither ever wanted to give that up.”

It doesn’t sound at this point that joint parenting is what Halle’s after. The way she’s going after him, she wants to cut him out completely. How else do you explain it later, when the child is older, and reads about her father’s “racist slur”? I agree with those of you (and most of you are) who are anti-Halle and say that it looks like she is taking it to the extreme but she’s crazy, totally. Having said that, I also think it’s important to consider the possibility that a series of serious actions may have pushed her to these drastic measures. Yeah, she could definitely be lying with her implication of violence and accusation of bigotry. But…what if she’s not? What do you do with the possibility, no matter how slim, that he is what she’s saying he is?