Halle Berry ‘Heartbroken’ Over ‘B.A.P.S.’ Co-Star Natalie Desselle Reid’s Death

Halle Berry is in mourning following the death of actress Natalie Desselle Reid. Reid, who co-starred with Berry in the 1997 film B.A.P.S., died Monday at the age of 53 following a private battle with colon cancer, which she had been diagnosed with earlier this year. After learning of her passing, Berry took to Twitter to pay emotional tribute to her fellow actress, stating that she has been left “heartbroken” by her loss.

On her Twitter account Monday, Berry shared numerous posts in tribute to Reid, including a lengthy note in which she said she was “still processing” the “devastating news” of Reid’s death. Calling the late actress “one of the most precious people” she has ever known, Berry explained that she and Reid first met through actor and director Robert Townsend. She called it a “divine connection” that united them “in roles that would change our lives and impact our culture for generations to come.”

“The second I met her our hearts were intertwined – we had a connection that was simply unexplainable, and she stayed her same sweet self all the years I knew her,” Berry wrote. “Natalie taught us love, joy and humor through her characters – she could never dim a light, and it was infectious. With her I laughed harder than I’d ever laughed before. She showed us it was ok to be goofy and funny while still being sincere and extraordinarily kind.”

Berry went on to reflect on how their friendship continued even after they left the set of B.A.P.S., a film on which she and Reid portrayed the roles of two waitresses at a Georgia food diner who decide to fly to Los Angeles for a music video audition. Berry said that years later, she and Reid “would hoot and holler over every BAPS tribute we came across, sending them back and forth to one another, overwhelmed that our on-screen friendship meant as much to you as it did to us. She was especially humbled by that, as am I.”

Berry concluded her message by writing that the late actress “represented actual black women, not what black women are perceived to be.” She said that for this, Reid was often “underrated, passed over — deprived of the platform she truly deserved.” She added that Reid’s “light continues to shine through the people who grew up watching her, the people who knew her best and those of us who loved her.” Berry, in words directed at her late friend, said that she will “love you forever my sweet friend. ima miss you Nat Dog!”