Summary
- Kevin Costner faced infidelity rumors in both divorces, but avoided a massive settlement in his second split.
- His lack of British accent in "Prince of Thieves" garnered criticism, but Costner remained unfazed by the comments.
- Costner's alleged affairs during marriage caused public backlash, with no confirmation from the actor himself.
In 2023, Kevin Costner's pricey divorce with Christine Baumgartner was briefly marred by rumors of infidelity on both sides. However, it was Baumgartner's alleged affair with their former tenant that made headlines back then. Luckily for the Yellowstone star, he didn't pay a huge settlement like he did in his first divorce with Cindy Silva in 1994. But that was probably due to Costner's "womanizer" image at that time.
Ahead of their split, their close friend also revealed that Silva wanted Costner to quit acting due to his "sexy roles". After his rumored affair with a co-star, the latter filed for divorce where she received a whopping $80 million payout. It was an "amicably resolved" matter, per her joint statement with The Bodyguard actor. Unfortunately, it drew public intrusion into Costner's complicated dating history. As if being trolled for a "terrible" movie performance wasn't enough.
Kevin Costner Was Trolled For His "Terrible" English Accent In 'Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves'
Aside from facing infidelity rumors, Costner was also slapped with bad reviews for his performance in Prince of Thieves. The movie was a box office hit, earning $390 million worldwide. But critics thought the Silverado star wasn't the right choice for the lead role. The biggest problem? His lack of British accent. As The Guardian's Lanre Bakare wrote in 2014:
"Most things about Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves are terrible. Kevin Costner's and Christian Slater's attempts at English accents: terrible."
Producer John Watson later defended Costner's accent, saying: "He had a tempered accent, a softened-up Americanization. It was inappropriate to have him sound like Prince Charles. We didn't want to go all the way to British royalty. But we didn't want him to sound Californian…the audience loves him. It didn't bother them at all."
Costner didn't seem bothered either. When asked about the "comments" about the movie, he said: "Well comments don't change... With the success of anything... If they're true opinions. While opinions can be changed, your feelings about things are the same. With the success or the fact that Robin Hood is a really great movie doesn't mean that it still wasn't a hard movie [to make]."
He added: "It was hard... Those are problems... Everybody watching can appreciate when work goes well versus when it goes badly." He then shared that he's "not that result-oriented" but rather "more environment-oriented; environment in terms of... what it's like to work."
In 2012, Kevin Costner sued Morgan Creek Productions for not giving him his full 15% share in Robin Hood's earnings. They privately settled in 2014 after the studio insisted that Costner had already been paid over $40 million for the film.
Kevin Costner Allegedly Had An Affair With A Receptionist While Filming 'Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves'
In 1991, Costner allegedly had a fling with nightclub receptionist, Sheri Stewart, when he was filming Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in England. The actor called the rumors "off the wall". But insiders seemed to believe the story, especially with Costner's reputation as a "total rogue."
In 1987, the For the Love of the Game alum also admitted to facing "temptations" at work. "I have a big thirst. A big taste for things…. I hate the fact that I've lived by somebody else's rules and I've somehow missed out on something," he said back then.
"The temptations are pretty strong—and there's a hungry world out there waiting for you to fall," Costner continued. "So you can't even dabble without paying a huge price."
Once, a woman he'd met during a press junket said that he made a pass at her on the way to a group lunch. "We're in the limo in broad daylight, for no more than five minutes, when he turns to me and starts unbuttoning my jacket. I totally lost it," she recalled. "What he could have been thinking is beyond me…. But he wasn't embarrassed at all. It's almost like he thought, 'Hey, I'm getting to be a big star, let's see what I can do.'"
Here's a timeline of Costner and Silva's 16-year marriage:
| 1975 | The pair started dating after meeting in college |
| 1978 | They got married |
| 1984 | They welcomed their firstborn, Annie |
| 1986 | They had another daughter, Lily |
| 1987 | Silva reportedly started to get uncomfortable with Costner's "sexy roles" |
| 1988 | Silva gave birth to a boy named Joe |
| 1991 | The height of Costner's "total hound" reputation |
| 1994 | They got divorced after Costner's alleged Waterworld affair |
Kevin Costner Defended His Alleged 'Waterworld' Mistress After His Divorce With Cindy Silva
Silva decided to file for divorce in 1994 after rumors that Costner was having an affair with, hula dancer Michelle Amaral on the Hawaiian set of Waterworld. "I don't know anyone who doesn't know about him [and other women]," said a studio insider back then. The actor never confirmed the alleged affair. But he defended Amaral when she was mentioned during an interview.
"This woman has done nothing wrong and yet has had to share the harsh light of celebrity with me. I feel embarrassed, and I don't think there's one thing I can do to make her life better," Costner said.
He added that "this woman has a name and to make her a thing is the worst part of all. It's wrong for her and her husband." Amaral was also a married mother of three. Her husband, Albert previously denied her involvement with Costner – who owned up to the breakup of his marriage to Silva.
"A series of events conspired to happen at the same time. I know it hurt some people that I had failed in my marriage. And the marriage was my own failure," The Postman star said of his first divorce. In 1995, he denied dating Amaral, as well as other women like Playboy model Angie Everheart.
Kevin Costner almost didn't remarry after Cindy Silva. "Fear kept me from marrying Christine [Baumgartner]," he said in 2018. "[She] wanted a child, but I was afraid I couldn't be an effective father."
However, he said the rumors still affected his family life. "It was hard on Cindy and our children. It didn't help things. The only thing it did was hurt. The collapse of my marriage was the hardest thing of all for me." In 2012, Costner seemed to have learned his lesson.
Eight years into his marriage to Baumgartner, he said the secret to a good matrimony is "the ability to say you're sorry. I know that sounds so simple. If you're willing to tell somebody that you love them, are you also willing to say you're sorry? You need to, even when you think you're in the right."
