Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry in Bitter Custody Feud Over Daughter Nahla

According to Radar, the 35-year-old male model has hired lawyers in both California and Canada in his bid to gain sole custody of the youngster.

And after Ms. Berry's remarks about "having serious concerns for her daughter's well-being while in the care of her father for any extended period of time," Gabriel is irate.

An insider told press, "Halle has gone too far this time. Attacking Gabriel and accusing him of being an unfit father is totally below the belt and completely without merit. He's going to give as good as he gets. There's no way he is going to allow Halle to take his daughter away from him."

Yesterday it was revealed that Berry is planning to go to battle with her ex-boyfriend over the custody of their daughter.

Explaining the situation, the Oscar winning actress' rep told People magazine, "Halle has serious concerns for her daughter's well-being while in the care of her father for any extended period of time and is prepared to take all necessary steps to protect her."

The spokesperson continued, "She has attempted to resolve these custody issues amicably with her daughter's father, Gabriel Aubry, directly, but given his lack of cooperation, Halle has no choice but to seek swift judicial intervention."

Unwilling to offer reasons behind Halle's suddenly aggressive legal position, her rep added, "Halle has always made the needs and safety of her daughter her first priority and, both while Halle and Gabriel were a couple and since their break-up, Halle has only acted in her daughter's best interest."

Miss Berry has also decided to back out of a role in the movie "New Year's Eve" to make time for any drawn out court proceedings that may ensue. Yesterday the actress' publicist gave a statement in which she explained Halle's decision as "due to pending custody litigation involving her daughter."

She has since been replaced by "Grey's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl.

Last month Aubry asked the court to formally recognize him as Nahla's father and to grant him joint custody.

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