Kevin Costner calls Horizon 2 sexual harassment allegations ‘absolutely false’ in motion to dismiss lawsuit
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Kevin Costner at ‘SNL50: The Anniversary Special’ in New York.Credit: TheStewartofNY/WireImage
Kevin Costner has filed a motion to dismiss a sexual harassment lawsuit from a stunt performer in his Western movie Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2.
The actor and filmmaker said the allegations from Devyn LaBella are “absolutely false.”
LaBella has also accused Costner of sexual discrimination and creating a hostile work environment, which he denied.
Kevin Costner has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from a stunt performer accusing him of sexual harassment and other misconduct on the set of his Western film Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2.
Costner, who wrote, directed, and stars in the sequel, said in a sworn declaration filed Monday that the “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.”
The lawsuit hails from Devyn LaBella, who worked as a stunt double for actress Ella Hunt in Horizon 2, which has yet to be released. In a complaint filed in California Superior Court in May, LaBella accused Costner (along with 10 additional unnamed crew members) of sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and the creation of a hostile work environment, alleging that she was subjected to performing a “violent unscripted, unscheduled rape scene.”
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Kevin Costner at a pre-Grammy gala in 2023; Devyn LaBella in Los Angeles in 2024.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Michael Bezjian/Getty
Costner denied LaBella’s allegations at the time, and has now provided his own account of the incident. His attorneys also submitted 11 sworn declarations from cast and crew members who corroborated details of his account, including cinematographer Jim Muro, stunt coordinator Wade Allen, and actor Roger Ivens.
“My belief is that Devyn’s claims were designed, through the use of false statements and sensationalistic language, to damage my reputation,” Costner said in his declaration. “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.”
An attorney for LaBella, James A. Vagnini, characterized Costner’s filing as “continued evidence that one of Hollywood’s most powerful men is trying to skirt accountability for reckless and harmful behavior” in a statement provided to EW.
“This baseless motion is nothing but a desperate delay tactic from a panicked legal team with no real defense,” Vagnini said. “The only things damaging Kevin Costner’s reputation are his own reckless, harmful behavior and the offensive narrative he’s spreading to cover it up.”
The Horizon 2 moment in question stems from a scene “depicting the buildup to” the rape of Juliette (Hunt’s character) by Sig (Doug Smith) and Birke (Ivens), according to the motion to dismiss.
Costner’s filing claims that contrary to LaBella’s allegations, she was informed about the extent of the shot beforehand and she “volunteered” to perform the moment on camera after she rehearsed it during blocking. Additionally, it alleges that the shot was never actually filmed with LaBella, and that she was only present for the rehearsal of the scene because she was already in her character’s costume, while Hunt’s usual stand-in was not wearing the character’s dress.
In the motion to dismiss, Costner’s attorneys argued that the incident fails to meet the definition of sexual harassment because LaBella was not subjected to a quid pro quo demand or a hostile work environment.
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Kevin Costner ‘Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1’.Richard Foreman/Warner Bros.
In his declaration, Costner reiterated the claim that the moment was actually a single shot, rather than an entire scene as LaBella suggested, and that it was “scripted violence that preceded a rape the audience would not witness,” rather than an actual depiction of rape.
“As a director, I do not believe that it is always necessary to be graphic in the depiction of violence or scenes involving sex,” he said. “I have historically looked for opportunities to avoid being graphic when possible and still have the same impact on audiences. Horizon has been no different. To that end, even though the character Juliette suffers two violent, demoralizing rapes in the narrative, I was able to achieve that goal. The audience sees only the lead up and the aftermath; there is no nudity or simulated sex.”
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Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2 premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September and screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February. It was initially slated to hit theaters a year ago but was pulled from the release calendar by distributor New Line Cinema after the first Horizon film fizzled at the box office.
[This article has been updated with a statement from Devyn LaBella’s attorney.]
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