Amid Bitter Divorce Battle, Kevin Costner Could File Huge Lawsuit Over ‘Yellowstone’ Exit

Kevin Costner hinted that he may be filing a lawsuit over money he’s allegedly owed for his work on “Yellowstone” as he testified in court amidst his bitter divorce battle from his ex Christine Baumgartner, who he was married to for 18 years.

Costner Hints At ‘Yellowstone’ Lawsuit

Fox News reported that during a hearing about child support payments on Friday, Costner, 68, testified about the drama surrounding the filming of season five of his hit show “Yellowstone.” The star explained that he had some issues with the timing of “Yellowstone” filming because he wanted to focus on working on his four part movie saga “Horizon.”

“Somewhere along the line they wanted to change things,” Costner said of the “Yellowstone” filming process. “They wanted to do 5A and 5B…affected ‘Horizon.’ I was going to do my movie ‘Horizon’ and leave that show, do my movie, then do B. A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.”

Costner went on to claim that before scheduling broke down and “Yellowstone” was cancelled, he was offered $24 million to film seasons five, six and seven of the show.

“I will probably go to court over it,” Costner replied when asked if he’d received a payout for the latest “Yellowstone” seasons.

When asked by Baumgartner’s lawyer if he was “offered” to “do season six” of “Yellowstone, Costner responded by saying that it was “complicated.”

“We did negotiate,” he stated. “There were issues about creative. I tried to break the log jam. They walked away.”

Related: Kevin Costner Accuses Ex Of ‘Relentless Jihad’ – She Breaks Down In Court

‘Yellowstone’ Ending 

It was announced back in May that “Yellowstone” would be coming to an end, and creator Taylor Sheridan addressed Costner’s exit afterwards.

“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with ‘Yellowstone.’ I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”

“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” he added. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting.”

“He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one,” Sheridan concluded. “I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”

Related: ‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Reveals All About Kevin Costner Leaving The Show

Costner’s Divorce Battle

Baumgartner, 49, had filed for divorce weeks before the end of “Yellowstone” was announced, citing “irreconcilable differences” as she did so.

“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,” Costner’s representative told People Magazine at the time. “We ask that his, Christine’s, and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time.”

Costner and Baumgartner are the parents to three teenage children. At the conclusion of Friday’s hearing, a judge ruled in Costner’s favor, slashing his monthly child support payments down from $129,755 to $63,209. This was a brutal defeat for Baumgartner, who had been asking for the payments to be increased to $161,592 per month.

“You know, when you have a life that long with somebody, there is no winner…and it’s this big, crazy thing called life and how it unravels so quickly,” Costner told Fox News afterwards. “One minute you feel like you’re on top of the world, and then you realize how, you know, how vulnerable you are.”

“She’s an incredible mom,” he added of Baumgartner. “We will figure it out and we’ll share. We just got to kind of convalesce right now.”

This is clearly a very messy situation for everyone involved. We can only hope that this divorce gets more amicable moving forward, and that Costner is paid whatever he is owed for his incredible work on “Yellowstone.”