New Reports on Kevin Costner’s Divorce Show Just How Mutual Their Split Was
If getting a divorce with kids involved wasn’t difficult enough, Kevin Costner and his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner‘s divorce gets even messier with all the fame and money involved. Most recently, in addition to the documents that revealed the massive sum Baumgartner is asking in child support, sources are now revealing that Costner had his own divorce plans before his estranged wife officially filed back in early May.
According to a source for The Sun, the Yellowstone star was planning to file for divorce from Baumgartner before she did. So, in order to not blindside his kids, Costner reportedly told their kids, Grace, 13, Hayes, 14, and Cayden, 16, beforehand.
“Kevin sat his family down, told them he and their mum were getting a divorce and his lawyer was getting the paperwork drawn up,” the source said. “He wanted everything to be peaceful for the sake of his kids and told Christine he didn’t want a messy divorce because he’d already been through one.”
“Then first thing the next morning, boom, Christine sneak attacks him and serves him with her own set of divorce papers,” the source said. Talk about a mutual split, right?
But, regardless of how much Costner wanted the split too, the actor was surprised by Baumgartner’s filing. “Kevin was so shocked,” the source added. “Christine has since made him look terrible, and has continued to do so.”
Last week, another important part of this puzzle was revealed in court documents from Baumgartner obtained by People. Per the documents, Costner told the kids about the divorce in a short Zoom call while he was filming in Las Vegas.
“After a 24-year relationship, from his hotel room in Las Vegas, Kevin told our three children that we were getting divorced over a 10-minute Zoom call without me present,” Baumgartner said. “I am still confused by his motivation to do this via a very short Zoom session, especially since he was planning on being home five days later.”
“He also could have easily come home from Las Vegas to have the conversation in person,” he added.
In the documents, Baumgartner explained that she had talked to Costner about telling the kids about the divorce together. “The children’s welfare has always been my highest priority, and I was concerned they would find out about the divorce before Kevin and I could tell them,” she said. “It was important for me that we tell the children in person and together.”
But, by telling the kids by himself, he totally dismissed her request to put on a united front. “He disregarded my proposal to do what I felt was right based on research and my relationship with the children,” she continued. “Instead, he insisted that he had the right to tell them that we were getting divorced ‘first’ and tell them privately ‘without me present.'”
Knowing just how impersonal that conversation between Costner and his kids must’ve been over Zoom, we completely understand Baumgartner’s frustration. Looks like that was just the cherry on top she needed to finally take matters into her own hands.
Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity divorces that took years to get finalized.