To Kevin Costner, his second marriage to handbag designer Christine Baumgartner was “super happy,” and he had no part in the decision to end it with a divorce, according to a report.
Indeed, the 68-year-old “Yellowstone” star knew that going through another divorce when he has children still at home would be his “worst nightmare,” an insider has told US Weekly. The insider’s comment comes in the wake of news that Baumgartner has filed for divorce after 18 years of marriage. The couple have three children, ages 12, 14 and 16.
“Everyone thought Kevin and his wife were super happy so it’s all surprising,” the source told Us Weekly. “He truly loves her and is trying to get her back. He’s been blindsided by this.”
“Kevin loves his wife and children so this has been very hard on him,” the source also said. “He is saying that this is his worst nightmare and he would do anything for his family.”
Baumgartner, 49, filed for divorce on May 1. The estranged couple married in 2004 and share sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 12. Almost as soon as Baumgartner filed for divorce, Costner’s representative was forced to deny rumors that he cheated. The rep told Page Six that any allegations of infidelity are “absolutely not true.”
The cheating rumors emerged in part because Costner’s first marriage, to college sweetheart Cindy Silva, ended in an $80 million divorce in 1996, amid allegations of serial cheating. But a longtime friend told Page Six: “There was no issue of cheating at all (in his marriage to Baumgartner).”
However, Costner may have stoked some of these rumors himself when he said “the temptations are pretty strong” when he’s away from home for months at a time filming a movie or TV series, according to Page Six. “I try to conduct my life with a certain amount of dignity and discretion but marriage is a hard, hard gig,” Costner said.
Sources close to the star also denied a particularly pernicious rumor floating around social media that Costner, while shooting “Yellowstone” in Montana, got a member of the crew pregnant. The sources told TMZ that these rumors were “total BS” and completely baseless.
Whatever went wrong with his marriage, Costner finds himself once again dealing with his family breaking up at a time when he has children at home.
Costner and first wife Silva married in 1978 when he was a struggling young actor. They had three children, Annie, Lily and Joe, while his star was on the rise with films such as “Silverado,” “The Untouchables,” “No Way Out,” “Bull Durham” and “Field of Dreams.” Costner and Silva’s divorce came when their children were 10, 8 and 6. Those children are now 38, 36 and 34, respectively.
In a 2020 interview, Costner said his fear of going through another divorce almost kept him from marrying Baumgartner.
“Finally, there came a moment where maybe this doesn’t go forward,” Costner told “Extra,” according to Us Weekly. “Because I thought to myself, I could be divorced again, but what I couldn’t be is divorced again with children. That crushed me.”
Costner said he had to overcome that fear, “face life and go, ‘Are you gonna miss life, are you gonna miss love because you’re afraid?'” He said he finally realized: “I’m not gonna lose her because I’m gonna be afraid.”
In between his divorce from Silva and marriage to Baumgartner, Costner dated a string of women, according to reports. They include: Bridget Rooney, with whom he had a son, Liam, who is now 27; London society girl Birgit Cunningham; and supermodel Elle Macpherson.
After news broke of his split from Baumgartner, another source told Us Weekly that Costner is “deeply saddened” by the divorce and is “still trying to save his marriage.”
Officially, the “Dances with Wolves” director had his representative issue a statement on May 2, saying: “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.”
In other words, Costner’s rep is saying that the divorce wasn’t the actor’s idea and this was no “mutual decision.” The friend also told Page Six that Costner has been left stunned that his second marriage is ending. “I have no idea if Kevin even knows what the reasons are,” the friend said.
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