Kevin Costner has been in the news quite a bit lately for professional reasons, as along with continuing to shoot his Western epic Horizon, there’s been chatter about behind-the-scenes conflicts interfering with his work on Yellowstone, and today even brought word that he’s allegedly leaving the Paramount Network series after Season 5. However, on the personal side of things, it was reported yesterday that Costner and his wife Christine Baumgartner are divorcing after 18 years of marriage. This turn of events reportedly “stunned” the actor, and a source is saying that he did not cheat on her.
As already shared, Baumgartner filed for divorce on Monday, but no specific reasoning has been made public for why she’s done so, only the standard “irreconcilable differences.” According to individuals who spoke with Page Six, Costner was surprised by his wife wanting to end the marriage, and one of them states that “there was no issue of cheating at all.” Costner and Baumgartner were publicly seen together being photographed at the 95th Academy Awards, and there wasn’t any indication that things were amiss between them. This unnamed friend added:
Kevin was very surprised by Christine’s actions, he obviously doesn’t want the divorce and he would take her back. It’s disappointing, he loves her and he loves his children.
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner were romantically together for four years before they married at his ranch in Aspen, Colorado in 2004. This is his second marriage, as he was previously married to Cindy Silva from 1978 to 1994. He and Baumgartner share three children: 15-year-old Cayden, 14-year-old Hayes and 12-year-old Grace. It was previously noted that Baumgartner is not seeking spousal support, and TMZ mentioned in its report that one of the provisions of their prenup is that she must “vacate” all of Costner’s homes “based on the time schedule” set by the document.
Looking back to Page Six, the aforementioned source said they “have no idea if Kevin even knows what the reasons are” for why Baumgartner filed for divorce. Furthermore, while it’s speculated in the piece that Costner being away for months to work on Yellowstone might have put “pressure” on their relationship, a production source from the series claims that the lead actor “was not ‘sequestered’ on the set and would often go home to visit his family.” This same source also mentioned that no one knew about any “issues” between the couple.
We’ll continue sharing updates on what’s happening between Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner as they come in, but as far as the former goes, there’s no word on when the latter half of Yellowstone Season 5 will air, though you can stream the first half and the prior four seasons with a Peacock subscription. Along with that and Horizon (a cinematic saga that will consist of four movies), he’s also set up a Western documentary series at A&E that’s tentatively called Kevin Costner’s The West.
