Kevin Costner was left stunned after his wife Christine Baumgartner filed to end their 18-year marriage this week, sources told Page Six.
Although the “Yellowstone” star’s first marriage ended in an $80 million divorce amid a swirl of allegations about his serial cheating, one longtime friend said defiantly: “There was no issue of cheating at all.”
The couple were last seen together posing, apparently happily, for the cameras at the Oscars in March, and the 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.”
The couple have sons Cayden, 15, Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 12.
Costner, 68 — who had romanced a stream of supermodels and Hollywood beauties from Elle Macpherson to Halle Berry — had indeed spent months away from home filming “Yellowstone” in Montana, potentially putting pressure on his relationship.
The “Bodyguard” actor once said: “The temptations are pretty strong and there’s a hungry world out there waiting for you to fall. So you can’t even dabble without paying a huge price. I try to conduct my life with a certain amount of dignity and discretion but marriage is a hard, hard gig.”
However, a rep for Costner also told Page Six that any allegations of cheating are “absolutely not true.”
Asked about Baumgartner’s reasons for divorce, the Costner friend added: “I have no idea if Kevin even knows what the reasons are.”
And a production source on his hit “Yellowstone” also expressed shock, saying: “No-one knew about any issues. He was not ‘sequestered’ on the set and would often go home to visit his family.”
The handbag designer filed for divorce on Monday, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
In her filing, Baumgartner, 49, asked for joint custody of their three kids.
She did not ask for spousal support as there is reportedly a prenup in place to protect Costner’s estimated $250 million fortune.
A rep for Costner declined to discuss the financial arrangements and said: “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action.
“We ask that his, Christine’s and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time.”
Costner is currently filming the first of his multi-movie Western series, “Horizon, an American Saga,” in St. George, Utah, which he also writes and directs.
And the friend told us: “He’s shooting right now and it’s all very upsetting, you don’t expect your wife to file for divorce when you least expect it.”
Costner responded to his estranged wife’s petition on Tuesday by also asking for joint custody of the children, via his attorney, top Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser.
As Page Six revealed, Costner is currently embroiled in a stand-off with the creator of his TV hit “Yellowstone”, Taylor Sheridan.
Sources told us last month that even if he does return for the second half of season 5 — which is yet to be filmed — the show is poised to end after season 5.
What will happen to the show next is uncertain.
Filming was set to begin again this summer for a fall debut.
But that is in doubt, due to the writer’s strike in Hollywood that kicked off Tuesday.
The Writer’s Guild voted to strike to get more money for members over the growth of streaming deals.
On top of that, ET! reported Wednesday that Costner is not planning to return at all to the show but his rep declined to comment to Page Six.
One production source told us they are still keen for the star to come back for season 5, where his character John Dutton will likely be killed off.
The Costner friend said that with all this going on, “it’s been a tough year.”
Costner was still married to his first wife, Cindy Silva, when he originally met Baumgartner.
The pair crossed paths on a golf course where Costner was rehearsing for his 1996 romantic comedy “Tin Cup”.
According to People mag, Silva decided to end the 16-year marriage in November 1994 amid rumors that Costner had cheated on her with a hula dancer called Michelle Amaral on the Hawaiian set of his movie “Waterworld”.
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This prompted one of Hollywood’s most expensive divorces, but Costner later denied the fling, saying: “This woman has done nothing wrong and yet has had to share the harsh light of celebrity with me. I feel embarrassed, and I don’t think there’s one thing I can do to make her life better.
“This woman has a name and to make her a thing is the worst part of all. It’s wrong for her and her husband.”
However, he took responsibility for his marriage split, telling the Sunday Times: “A series of events conspired to happen at the same time. I know it hurt some people that I had failed in my marriage. And the marriage was my own failure,’ he said.
Costner said in a 1995 interview with Parade Magazine that he never even spoke to Amaral on the phone.
He also listed off the other women he was supposedly linked to including Playboy model Angie Everheart and the daughter of casino magnate Steve Wynn.
‘It was hard on Cindy and our children. It didn’t help things. The only thing it did was hurt. The collapse of my marriage was the hardest thing of all for me,’ the “Dances With Wolves: star said.
During his marriage, he was also linked with Halle Berry in 1989, whom he met on the set of “Living Dolls”, and reportedly romanced Mira Sorvino in 1993, alongside Naomi Campbell.
Costner, however, went on to express his love for his first wife: “You can put this on the record. Through all the pain, Cindy’s been what I always thought she was a real lady. I still have love for Cindy.”
After Costner and Silva — who share three grown children, Joe, 35, Lily, 36, and Annie, 39 — divorced in 1994, the actor briefly dated Bridget Rooney, the niece of the late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
The pair had a son, Liam, now 26, from the brief romance — and Rooney reportedly got a DNA test to confirm that Costner was the father.
He romanced Elle Macpherson in 1996 and said of the supermodel: “I feel I have met my equal with this beautiful, talented, funny, and lovely person.”
After a few months, the couple moved in together.
Costner abandoned his single lifestyle but unfortunately, the relationship was short-lived.
It was over by the end of the year.
He went on to date another model, Carla Bruni, now wed to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
He was also linked to “Friends” beauty Courtney Cox in 1995.
In 1998, following his breakup from Rooney, Costner ran into Baumgartner at a restaurant and the two began dating.
They wed in a fairytale ceremony at Costner’s 160-acre ranch, The Dunbar, in Aspen, Colorado.
The groom arrived in a horse-drawn carriage while Baumgartner came to the ceremony in a green vintage truck, People reported.
They briefly split before the wedding over Costner’s reluctance to have more children.
Costner previously revealed to Extra that on day one of their relationship, Baumgartner told him, “If you’re going to be with me, you need to know that kids are at the end of the road for me with you, if that’s going to happen.”
The pair dated for six years before Baumgartner gave Costner an ultimatum.
“Finally, there came a moment where, maybe this doesn’t go forward,” the Field of Dreams actor said before he decided, “I’m not going to lose her because I’m afraid.”
Following the divorce filing, accusations that Costner sexually harassed a masseuse at he five-star Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Scotland, while on honeymoon with Baumgartner in October 2004, quickly resurfaced.
The woman, who was not named, said Costner dropped his towel and exposed himself.
A criminal complaint was never made and Costner was not sued directly.
She sued the hotel, and settled before there was any ruling on her claim.
There is no suggestion the allegation is linked to the divorce.
But the Costner rep said: “The referred to allegations were not true then and are not true now. Further, Mr. Costner was never part of any legal proceeding.”
