In a dramatic twist, Kevin Costner has formally filed to dismiss the bombshell sexual harassment lawsuit introduced towards him by stuntwoman Devyn LaBella from the Horizon sequel, RadarOnline.com has discovered.
Costner, 70, referred to as LaBella’s claims a “bold-faced lie” in a declaration filed on Monday, August 18, in L.A. Superior Court docket, accusing her of attempting to destroy his character and standing in Hollywood.
“My perception is that Devyn’s claims have been designed, by means of using false statements and sensationalistic language, to wreck my popularity,” Costner argued in his request to dismiss the case.
“These allegations are so patently false I can solely assume that the aim was to make use of this sensationalistic language to embarrass and injury me and the Horizon films on an ongoing foundation in an effort to achieve a large and unjustified payday,” the Yellowstone alum added.
LaBella, 34, who was the stunt double for actress Ella Hunt, shocked the business when she claimed that she was coerced into collaborating in an “unscripted, unscheduled rape scene” directed by Costner for Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2. Nevertheless, the Oscar winner alleged within the new submitting that LaBella expressed nothing however “enthusiasm and gratitude” after filming wrapped.
In his submitting, Coster supplied the court docket with pictures of the scene that includes LaBella, and one other displaying the smiling stuntwoman subsequent to her director on set. Costner mentioned the shot was “fastidiously blocked” and disputed her “rape” scene claims.
In the meantime, the longtime actor detailed his model of occasions on the day of the alleged incident. In accordance with Costner, LaBella was in a scene alongside actor Roger Ivens, who was merely “hovering” above her whereas they filmed in a wagon. He insisted there was “no nudity, rape, simulated intercourse or bodily contact” throughout the shoot, describing LaBella as “totally clothed in an ankle-length gown with bike shorts beneath.”
Costner vehemently acknowledged that whereas the gown could have shifted, it by no means rose above her waist, leaving her clothes untouched. He expressed his dismay at LaBella’s allegations, declaring them to be “completely false” and “deeply disappointing.”
In her preliminary lawsuit, filed in Could, LaBella accused Costner of sexual discrimination, harassment, and making a “hostile work setting” whereas filming the Horizon sequel — a challenge stricken by turmoil. She claimed she was pressured into the wagon scene after Hunt, 27, refused to proceed as a result of scene’s surprising nature.
Following the scene, LaBella claimed she skilled “reminders of disgrace, humiliation, and full lack of management,” and took a couple of days off from set. She mentioned she was left with “everlasting trauma” that has since impacted her profession.
Because the authorized showdown escalated, the 2 have been locked in a bitter trade in court docket, with LaBella offering texts to assist her claims whereas accusing Costner of making an attempt to silence her.
“Why was there no intimacy coordinator?” she allegedly requested the movie’s intimacy coordinator, Celeste Chaney, in a textual content submitted in her lawsuit about why she wasn’t on set for the scene. “Why was a stunt double doing this non-stunt work, particularly given the sensitivity of it? Why weren’t there any preparations going into the scene?”
“Who’s gonna take accountability for the abuse of energy, negligence, and ignorance on set?” LaBella requested.
In his response to her lawsuit on the time, Costner’s group shot again that there was “no intimacy or something sexual” concerned within the scene, thus an intimacy coordinator wasn’t wanted.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 premiered on the Cannes Movie Pageant in Could 2024 and hit theaters the next month. The large-budget Western drama was a large box-office bomb, and Horizon II’s deliberate August 2024 launch date was scrapped.
The beleaguered second chapter of Horizon nonetheless had its premiere on the Venice Worldwide Movie Pageant in September 2024. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless with no theatrical launch date practically a yr later.
Costner spent a superb chunk of his fortune financing Horizon: An American Saga, which he deliberate to inform in 4 epic elements. The primary two movies have been shot back-to-back, whereas the third has no begin date after the primary movie flopped.
“Horizon was an epic failure that bled some huge cash out of (Costner) and did not get a lot viewing,” a supply mentioned in June. “He is nonetheless selecting himself up off the ground over that, and now he is obtained this beast of a lawsuit threatening to get severely expensive, and he is smack-bang within the firing line until his authorized group can discover a Hail Mary resolution.”