HOLLYWOOD -- Contrary to rumours, Halle Berry claims she did not get paid $500,000 to bare her breasts for a poolside scene in the new John Travolta thriller Swordfish.

"Totally not true," Berry said on the weekend. "I would sell these babies for way more money than that. Totally not true. But it's made for great publicity for the movie. I don't know where that came from. Nobody's owning up to it. But it's totally, totally not true."

Berry made the comments at a Swordfish press conference after flying in for the day from Louisiana, where she is shooting a movie with Billy Bob Thornton. Berry was dressed provocatively in a micro-miniskirt, a black bra and a see-through black blouse wide open except for a single button. She said she is becoming more confident about her sexuality and did not need a bonus to strip for the movie.

But one of the film's producers, eccentric Jonathan Krane, says that Berry did have her salary bumped from $2 million to $2.5 million and that the extra money was absolutely a bonus for what he thinks is gratuitous topless exposure.

"I felt it was kind of like old news," Krane said in an interview. "We had seen this before. But other people really wanted that. A lot of actresses turned it down on the basis of that -- and they should. I didn't think it was necessary in the movie. Neither did John (Travolta). She also didn't want to do this. But, somehow, and it had to do with a number of things (including money), she agreed to do it. I was hoping she would not agree to do it and we would hire her anyway so we would not have to have that scene. But she agreed."

Krane, shaking his head in agreement to questions being asked about the incident, indicated he believes that Berry did get a bonus of $500,000 and that he thinks it is a sad commentary on Hollywood.

"I'm not going to make any statements out loud, guys. But I'm being real frank with you -- I don't like it. I've made 43 films that I have produced and I don't think I've had a naked girl in any of them until this."

Krane's version, however, is also being disputed by Krane's heavyweight co-producer Joel Silver, a Hollywood powerhouse for The Matrix. Silver said the nudity was necessary for the story and that Berry did it freely without any financial bonus.

"There was never a discussion about it. It's crazy," Silver said.

In the now-notorious scene, Berry -- a gorgeous model-turned-actress who co-stars with Travolta as his sexy sidekick -- is sitting in a lounge chair in a bikini bottom with a book over her chest. As actor Hugh Jackman approaches, Berry suddenly pulls the book away and shows her bare breasts, startling the character played by Jackman.

"The role was scripted as is. And she wanted to do it," Silver said of Berry. "She read the script and said, 'I'm in.' We did not pay her half-a-million to go topless. We made a deal with her and, whatever her deal was, was what she got. Can you imagine negotiating that? We paid her less than she wanted -- it's show business -- and we made a deal and that was it."

Swordfish opens across North America on Friday.


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