Kevin Costner Shuts Down $175k Child Support Demand, Says 'Once-in-a-Lifetime' Gig on 'Yellowstone' is Over in Divorce War
Aug. 31 2023, Published 1:55 p.m. ET
Kevin Costner is pushing back on his estranged wife’s attempt to collect a six-figure child support payment, claiming his money-making Yellowstone days are over, RadarOnline.com can exclusively reveal.
The stunning revelation was laid bare in recently filed court documents seeking to pay Christine Baumgartner $51,950 a month in child support instead of the wallet-busting $175k she is requesting based on her forensic accountant’s tabulation.
The Dances With Wolves star charged Baumgartner’s accountant has their figures all wrong in the desperate battle over his $400 million fortune.
Kevin Costner and his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner during happy times.
“It is undisputed that the year chosen by Christine’s expert is recent, but it is also undisputed that Kevin’s income fluctuates, and standing alone, one year is not 'representative' of his income,” Costner's pit bull lawyer Jacqueline Misho, wrote in court documents.
“Kevin’s forensic accountant calculated his income based on the last two years, did a guideline calculation that resulted in child support of $123,620 per month, and a reasonable needs analysis that resulted in child support of $51,950 per month, assuming Kevin paid 100% of health insurance, medical, educational, extracurricular and automobile expenses for the children directly.”
Kevin Costner left Yellowstone where he earned $21 million for just two seasons.
Costner also claimed his fat cat income of $21 million for the last two seasons of Yellowstone doesn’t exist anymore — and, therefore, cannot be calculated in the child support calculations.
"Yellowstone was a complete aberration and provided Kevin with an unusually high level of income – a level he has never had in the past,” Misho wrote. “However, Kevin concluded his work on Yellowstone in 2022 and is not involved in any future episodes of that series. With his Yellowstone income, Kevin’s average cash flow for the thirty months ended June 30, 2023, was $1,308,920 per month.”
Kevin Costner is battling his wife over child support payments for his three children.
“Without Yellowstone, his average cash flow for the thirty months ended June 30, 2023, was $468,136 per month,” she added. “The enormous difference in those figures establishes Kevin’s point, i.e., that Yellowstone was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and that going forward, his income will not reach that level – ever.”
A raging Costner also took a broadside shot at his wife of nearly 18 years and the mother of his three children, ages 16, 14, and 13.
"Kevin’s Response also pointed out numerous errors in Christine’s analysis of 'reasonable needs' wherein such expenses as her private trainer, her plastic surgery (at $188,500 annually), storage fees (for storage used only by the parties) and all of the expenses of a property (Aspen) they only used 2-3 times a year, were mistakenly included,” the court documents stated.
What’s more, Baumgartner’s accountants mistakenly treated Costner’s $20 million investment in the four-part Civil War movie epic Horizon: An American Saga as income – but it is not because he plans to reinvest into the massive project.
“Horizon I will likely be released in 2024, followed by Horizon II,” the documents stated. “Kevin has deferred the compensation to which he is contractually entitled for directing, acting, and producing Horizon, just as he did with prior projects, including Dances with Wolves.”
The latest filing comes as the two-day evidence hearing kicks off Thursday to determine how much money the 68-year-old Field of Dreams actor has in his vast portfolio.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Baumgartner filed for divorce in May and snubbed her nose at the ironclad premarital agreement that required her to vacate Costner’s $145 million spread near Santa Barbara – setting the stage for the bare-knuckle brawl over child support.
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Christine Baumgartner looking carefree after filing for divorce after 18 years of marriage.
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The evidence hearing will set the stage for the battle royale over the validity of their prenup, which requires the Tin Cup actor to temporarily pay $130k per month in child support.
Baumgartner — who was ordered by a judge to vacate Costner's home in July — plans to claim she was pressured to sign the prenup just weeks before their 2004 wedding.
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