Kevin Costner has spoken out against a lawsuit filed by a stunt performer on his film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, alleging that she was forced to perform a “violent” unscripted rape scene without required notice, consent or the mandatory presence of an intimacy coordinator.
In a legal declaration filed Monday in LA superior court, Costner called the breach of contract suit, filed in May by lead stunt double Devyn LaBella, a “bold-faced lie” that was “designed, through the use of false statements and sensationalistic language, to damage my reputation”. The Yellowstone star seeks to have LaBella’s suit dismissed or kneecapped under anti-Slapp laws, measures that are supposed to protect against intimidation lawsuits.
LaBella, the stunt double for lead actor Ella Hunt, alleges that on 2 May 2023, Costner improvised a scene in which their character Juliette is raped, one day after Hunt and LaBella filmed a scripted scene in which a different character rapes Juliette. Hunt declined to perform the scene, and LaBella was allegedly then summoned to set without knowledge that Hunt refused and left.
According to her complaint, LaBella was not warned that a new male actor would mount her, pin her down and “violently” rake up her skirt. LaBella claims that Costner told her to “lay down” before he directed the male actor “to repeatedly perform a violent simulated rape” on her while Costner “experimented with different takes of the rape action”.
LaBella argues that the scene violated contractual protocols negotiated by the performers’ union Sag-Aftra, which stipulates that performers be given 48 hours notice and consent to any scenes involving nudity of simulated sex. She also claims that the film’s intimacy coordinator was not present, as mandated under Hunt’s contract, which applied to LaBella as her stand-in.
In an amendment filed in June, Celeste Chaney, an intimacy coordinator for the film, supported LaBella’s account, and called the incident an “unscheduled, unplanned violent rape scene” that “was unexpectedly sprung on the actors and stunt professionals”. Chaney added that LaBella “did not consent to the action that was directed once she was in place”; and “she did not have the appropriate modesty garments to ensure adequate coverage, safety, or protection”.
Costner’s declaration tries to paint a different picture. The lengthy filing opens with an upbeat text from LaBella to her supervisor nine days after the alleged incident: “Thank you for these wonderful weeks! I so appreciate you! I learned so much and thank you again. I’m really happy it worked out the way it did too. Have a great rest of the shoot and yes talk soon!”
“There was no anger or resentment, only enthusiasm and gratitude,” reads the filing from Costner’s lawyer Marty Singer. “The reality, as supported by the sworn testimony of a dozen respected, veteran film crew members with personal knowledge of the facts at issue in this dispute, real-time photographs of the shot in question, and LaBella’s own words at the time, is that LaBella’s opportunistic and salacious lawsuit is just as fictional as the motion picture at the center of this dispute.”
The filing goes on to call LaBella’s claim of an unscripted rape scene “patently false”, describing the incident instead as “build-up and foretelling of two violent rapes that occur off-screen”.
LaBella’s lawsuit claims that she complained to colleagues about the experience but felt she “had to continue working and keep up a professional attitude” as production was still under way.
She seeks unspecified damages for career disruption and “permanent trauma that she will be required to address for years to come”. She also wants the court to order that an intimacy coordinator be on set for all of Costner’s future films and that the defendants attend anti-sexual harassment or anti-sexual violence training by a “reputable organization”.
Costner left a lucrative role on the hit show Yellowstone to film Horizon, a passion project intended to be a four-part series. He poured $38m of his own money into the estimated $100m budget for the first two films, period westerns set in the late 1800s that Costner directed and co-wrote with Jon Baird. Chapter 1 was released in June 2024, but flopped at the box office, making $38.7m globally. Chapter 2 premiered at the Venice film festival in September 2024, but a general release date is yet to be announced.
