The 68-year-old Oscar winner has $20 million invested in a big-budget, four-part movie he’s directing and starring in; he’s engaged in a heated dispute with the producers of the successful TV series Yellowstone over residuals; and his wife is demanding that he pay $248,000 per month in child support in order to regain possession of their prestigious house.
An 11-page declaration obtained exclusively by RadarOnline.com reveals Costner’s mind-blowing anguish as he struggles to regain possession of his $145 million compound, complete his epic western Horizon: An American Saga on schedule, receive his TV royalties and prevail in a bare-knuckle divorce brawl over his $400 million fortune.
After 18 years of marriage, the actor’s real-life ‘American Saga’ began in May when Christine Costner served him with divorce papers and refused to leave the actor’s property outside Santa Barbara, California within 30 days as required by their prenuptial agreement.
Read: Kevin Costner Claims a Film Delay Made Him a “Little Baby”
In order to edit the blockbuster picture and offer living accommodations for his staff who are working tirelessly to prepare the film for the Venice Picture Festival in August, the Dances with Wolves star says he needs the large estate in chic Carpentaria, where he has his work studio.
He wrote in the document, “I am also financing, with others, the Horizon multi-film project pursuant to contractual commitments I have with the other third-party investors that I entered into long before Christine filed for divorce.” This was his attempt to explain why he can’t pay the $248,000 in support that Christine is demanding from him each month.
He said, “In 2022, I contributed $20 Million to the production company as my share of those commitments,” before harshly criticizing his ex-wife. Based on Christine’s Declaration, I believe she is using the request for child support as a smokescreen for trying to live as she does now.
In addition, Costner claims that Christine is unfairly calculating the $248,000 in child support she is requesting based on his pay from 2022 when the majority of his earnings were from his role as the star of Yellowstone, a series he left after its fifth season despite hopes of a lucrative sixth season.
To Christine, he explained, “In 2022, when I was deciding whether to continue acting on the television series ‘Yellowstone,’ I told her that I thought 2023 would be a difficult year financially if I was not working on ‘Yellowstone,’ because I was going to probably have to defer my salary on the Horizon film projects to the back end (which I did). Christine assured me that she got it.
Read: ‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan is ‘disappointed’ by Kevin Costner’s sudden exit
The star of Hidden Figures has revealed that he is involved in a second legal dispute with the producers of Yellowstone for unpaid royalties.
“The fixed amount ‘pay or play’ and episodic compensation I received has ceased,” he claimed. Now, whatever money I get from ‘Yellowstone’ will come solely from my contractual participation rights at the end of the project, and those sums are up in the air. The most up-to-date information from the ‘Yellowstone’ producer indicates that I am no longer due any participation money (although I have challenged this).
Until now in 2023, “Yellowstone” has not provided me with any form of recompense for my participation.
However, the Let Him Go, actor, seemed to be most worried about losing contact with his children during the high-stakes court battle.
Despite his fame, money, and beguiling grin, Costner admits in his statement that he worries about losing that emotional struggle because of the months he spends away from home working on film locations.
“I am doing everything I reasonably can to make a divorce, that she wanted, as painless as possible for our children,” he said, seemingly dubious of his own words.
While working in Utah, Costner’s wife accused him of delivering the news of their divorce to their children in a 10-minute Zoom discussion while he was away.
“But what is most upsetting to me is that Christine (albeit inaccurately) purports to recount how our children learned she was divorcing me,” he said. None of her fee or support demands are related to this. I think she’s just trying to make a terrible impression of me and give the media something to run with.
“The media did pick it up, for our children to read,” he said regretfully.
FAQs
Q1. How many biological children does Kevin Costner have?
Kevin Costner’s 7 Kids: Family Facts
In “Yellowstone,” Kevin Costner’s John Dutton prioritizes family. As the father of seven children with three women, he adopts that attitude. After 18 years, Costner’s second wife Christine Baumgartner divorced him in May 2023.
