Kevin Costner’s lawyer has already called out the sex harassment lawsuit from Horizon II stunt performer Devyn LaBella as a “shakedown,” and now, seeking to get the case dismissed, the Oscar winner himself is apparently going a step further.
In a declaration filed Monday in L.A. Superior Court, Costner insists the May-filed claims of LaBella suffering through a rape scene on the yet unreleased Western sequel are a “bold-faced lie.”
In fact, the former Yellowstone star, who put a lot of his own fortune in the Horizon series, says the suit is intended as an attack on him personally.
“My belief is that Devyn’s claims were designed, through the use of false statements and sensationalistic language, to damage my reputation,” Costner says in a dense and photo rich (see above, below and the document itself) declaration that’s an attachment to a motion to strike of August 18.
Actionwise, Costner and his Lavely & Singer attorneys are seeking a September 18 hearing in DTLA to either have the case axed or at least get most of it kneecapped under anti-SLAPP statute.
A self-described “lead stunt double for the series’ lead actor Ella Hunt,” LaBella filed her initial case against Costner and the production on May 27, 2025 in LASC.
Following a late 2024 filing with the California Civil Rights department, the SAG-AFTRA member and seasoned pro claims in her graphic LASC complaint that “on may (sic) 2, 2023, plaintiff Devyn LaBella, a female stunt performer, was the victim of a violent unscripted, unscheduled rape scene directed by Kevin Costner (‘Mr. Costner’), owner, chief Executive officer and Secretary of Horizon Series, Inc.” Spotlighting Guild violations on on-set protocols, LaBella’s sexual harassment, sexual discrimination and retaliation filing adds: “The impact of this impromptu work demand on Ms. Labella has been profound, not only upending a career Ms. Labella spent years building but leaving her with permanent trauma that she will be required to address for years to come.”
As well as unspecified damages, LaBella wants the court to order that an intimacy coordinator be on set of Costner’s “future” films. She also wants the defendants, of which Costner is one, to “submit to anti-sexual harassment and anti-sexual violence training provided by a reputable organization.”
It might be noted that intimacy coordinator Celeste Chaney, who worked on Horizon, has backed LaBella and called the incident an “unscheduled, unplanned violent rape scene” that “was unexpectedly sprung on the actors and stunt professionals.”
In an exhibit included with LaBella’s amended complaint of June 18, Chaney said that beside the problem of there not being an intimacy coordinator present for the scene, other issues were that it should have been a red flag that Hunt allegedly refused to participate and that LaBella “is a stunt professional, not a body double.” Chaney added 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 and his team pay Chaney’s POV little heed in their filings this week.
Opening with a gratitude gushing text from LaBella to “her supervisor” just over a week after the May 23, 2023 alleged rape scene was filmed, a lengthy memorandum accompanying Monday’s motion to strike goes straight for the jugular. “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 15-page paperwork over Marty Singer‘s signature asserts.
Costner’s declaration doesn’t leave much to the imagination either.
“Devyn’s claims against me are absolutely false, and it is deeply disappointing to me that a woman who worked on our production would claim that I or any other member of my production team would make one of our own feel uncomfortable, let alone suffer the “nightmare” she has invented,” Costner says.
“These allegations are so patently false I can only assume that the purpose was to use this sensationalistic language to embarrass and damage me and the Horizon movies on an ongoing basis in order to gain a massive and unjustified payday,” the WME-repped JKF alum adds. “Equally as bad, having to read about and address allegations I know to be false involving the words ‘rape’ and ‘assault’ has been an absolute nightmare. The truth matters. That’s why, even at the high cost of this lawsuit (financial and personal), I will always speak up to defend myself and my crew against false allegations.”
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, the first flick in Costner’s planned series, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival but faltered upon release last summer by Warner Bros. with just $38.7 million in worldwide box office.
Horizon II debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival. However, an August 2024 release date was canceled and the film has yet to come out. According to Costner’s declaration of this week, “we have not begun principal photography on Horizon III.“
Kevin Costner in HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – CHAPTER 1
Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection
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