Kevin Costner was ‘blindsided’ when his wife of 18 years, Christine Baumgartner, filed for divorce in May, citing “irreconcilable differences”. Costner and Baumgartner married in 2004 after six years of dating. Amidst their messy divorce proceedings, reports emerged in June about Costner’s confrontation with his entrepreneur tenant, sparking cheating allegations against Baumgartner.
Christine Baumgartner was already facing internet backlash for refusing to vacate their $145 million Santa Barbara estate despite a prenup agreement stating so. She also allegedly spent money from Costner’s credit cards to buy a car, raising suspicion about whether she planned the divorce beforehand.
Christine Baumgartner Was Allegedly Close To Kevin Costner’s Tenant
According to The US Sun, Christine Baumgartner became close to her tenant, Daniel Starr, who was residing in their guest house. Starr is a tech tycoon and founder of the GameMine gaming app. He was paying $60,000 per month in rent, according to a year-long lease agreement drafted in June of last year.
An insider source told The Sun that Kevin Costner’s family was initially close to Starr, and they even hung out together with their kids. As Costner was away most of the time due to the hectic Yellowstone shoot, Baumgartner spent time with Starr and grew close. However, there was some kind of falling out between the two, and she texted Starr to move out.
The source also added that Costner took his wife’s side and tried to evict Starr from their guest house. The source told The US Sun:
“After he moved in he became close friends with Chris and Kevin. But Kevin was always away filming, so Chris must have been lonely. Chris and Daniel hung out a lot. She would come into his house almost daily. But there was a fallout and Kevin got wind of it. There was a row between him and Daniel and things escalated from there. Chris didn’t like Daniel’s attitude towards their friendship. She texted him and said she wanted him out.”
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While Starr tried to convince them and even involved a legal team, he was finally forced to move out in March, months before his lease period ended. Speculations arose that the Dance with Wolves actor fought with Starr because he suspected his wife and his guest of cheating. When TMZ openly asked Daniel Starr whether he was involved with Baumgartner, he denied the alleged cheating.
Kevin Costner And Christine Baumgartner Had A Contentious Divorce
After filing the divorce papers, sources close to Christine Baumgartner told Us Weekly that she felt “he should be the one to go” from their shared Santa Barbara home. She contested their prenuptial agreement, which stated that she had to vacate the property within 30 days. Sources also told the news outlet that Costner’s Yellowstone shoot was a major issue in their marriage.
Costner was willing to move her into a $1.2 million home and pay her $10,000 for moving costs and another $30,000 for rent, as part of his child support obligation. However, Baumgartner had demanded a hefty $248,000 per month as child support from The Bodyguard actor (via People). In the end, the court favored Costner regarding their home and asked him to make monthly payments of $129,755 in child support. The proceedings were completed amicably in September.
Interestingly, during this time, Costner also experienced a fallout with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and exited from the show before its conclusion in the Season 5 Part 2. Costner also cited this exit in court as one of the reasons to argue for reduced child support.