When the year began, it appeared as if Yellowstone’s stars and its fanbase would be spending the summer celebrating the return and conclusion of Season 5, and I’m sure plenty of people are still wishing that was the case, with star Kevin Costner potentially on that list somewhere. The mega-star is currently in the midst of a high-profile divorce from his wife of nearly 20 years, Christine Baumgartner, which itself went public months after rumors of behind-the-scenes turmoil caused the Paramount Network drama to announce the now-delayed return will mark the neo-western’s swan song. And it appears having all of his financial info and spending details going public has only added insult to injury.
Money and property issues have been at the center of Costner and Baumgartner’s split, with the handbag designer temporarily refusing to vacate the California mansion they shared, citing a lack of support for finding a follow-up home for her and their three children. That situation appears to have been resolved in part, with the court ruling that she is required to be out by July 31, but that eventual resolution came only after the Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor’s financial situation was put under the microscope. And perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s not the happiest of campers about it. According to RadarOnline, Costner was “embarrassed” to have his estimated $400 million fortune serve as fodder for their paperwork filings.
It was revealed through such court records that Kevin Costner earned around $19.5 million in 2022, largely from his work on Yellowstone, where he famously earned over a million dollars an episode for its latest season. Also made public was the idea that he and the family spent over $6.6 million during that same time-span, with over $542,000 devoted just to gardeners. (How much did they spend on spa services? More than $21K.)
Not that Costner himself hasn’t apparently thrown some financial mud himself, claiming that Baumgartner was continuing to spend money that was lawfully his own while remaining in their home. To the point where he reportedly canceled one of her credit cards and put a spending cap on another one, which did not appear to be received well.
The former couple are now awaiting a separate hearing to nail down what the child support costs will be. Baumgartner initially demanded a monthly stipend to the tune of $278,000, claiming that’s what would be necessary to continue living in the way that her and their kids are used to. But he’s apparently not into dishing out such a lofty total, claiming that she would spend the bulk of it on plastic surgery, and suggested the lower amount of $51,000 a month. That arrangement is in the court’s hands now, metaphorically, so we’ll just have to hope it all goes accordingly and without further in-fighting making things harder on the trio of offspring.
Having previously lost more than $80 million in a divorce payout for his first wife, Costner definitely wanted to avoid any similar outcomes with Christine Baumgartner, which is why he set up the prenuptial agreement that they both signed when they wed 18 years prior. And while the situation this time around definitely won’t feature any staggering losses like that, the latter’s legal team has indeed attempted to find fault in the agreement that would provide their client with more financial stability once the divorce is finalized.
It’s unclear where things will go next, as Costner recently claimed that 2023 has so far been fairly income-free for him, as he stated he’s no longer under contract with Yellowstone, and is not currently in place to bring any money in from that deal until the final episodes are filmed. But considering he was allegedly a big reason why filming the episodes were delayed in the first place, as tied to scheduling and filming a feature passion project, he may have some direct agency when it comes to that side of it. And one would think he’d be eager to get more cash flowing, rather than ebbing, since he has talked about how much of his own money he put into funding the four-part saga Horizon, which is currently in some form of post-production.
