Kevin Costner has always spoken of his now ex-wife Christine Baumgartner with fondness so the news of them divorcing after 19 years of marriage came as a shock not only to the couple’s fans but to the actor himself.
However, people close to the couple say Christine, who was the one to file for divorce, allegedly warned her husband that she would leave him had he continued be absent from home because of work.
Apparently, Costner’s absence was ‘hard’ for Baumgartner who wanted him to spend more time at home with his family in Santa Barbara.
“During filming, Kevin is not around very much. His absence has been very hard for her,” a source reportedly said. Another insider reported that while Costner was aware that his wife was not happy in their marriage, her filing for divorce was nonetheless a shock to him.
“Christine doesn’t want him to throw himself into another project. He has been obsessed with filming Horizon since last year. She wasn’t happy about it,” a source reported.
“At times, his career has taken precedence over his home life,” another source added.
“All of this success and excitement over the new project probably took his attention away from his family more than he realized. Since it didn’t look like that would change and likely could get worse, it caused tension at home,” the source added.
Christine cited “irreconcilable differences” and a spokesperson of the actor said in a statement, “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond Mr. Costner’s control have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action.”
“We ask that his, Christine’s and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time.”
Baumgartner was seeking $161,000 a month in child support for their three children, Cayden Wyatt, 15, Hayes Logan, 14, and Grace Avery, 13.
In order to try and guarantee this income, Baumgartner went to court, but it was Costner who scored the victory, as per his fans, although the actor said there were ‘no winners’ in the bruising battle.
Namely, a judge in Santa Barbara slashed Baumgartner’s child support payments to $63,000 per month, which is less than half of the $129,000 she currently gets and considerably less than the $161,000 she asked for.
“You know, when you have a life that long with somebody, there is no winner…and it’s this big, crazy thing called life and how it unravels so quickly,” the actor told Fox News Digital.
“One minute you feel like you’re on top of the world, and then you realize how, you know, how vulnerable you are,” he added.
However, following the tough period he’s gone through, it seems like the Yellowstone star has found new love.
There have been speculations circulating that Costner is dating singer Jewel.
The two were recently seen together at a tennis event on Richard Branson’s Necker Island for the Inspiring Children Foundation.
As per TMZ, the two took a plane to the Caribbean and spent nearly a week together.
An insider told the magazine, “There was definitely something going on,” confirming that the pair indeed vacationed in the Caribbean together.
Malia Obama, 25, debuted a new moniker as she began her Hollywood career
Growing up in front of the eyes of the public isn’t something Malia Obama is not familiar with. Being the daughter of the former president of the United States, Barak Obama, she has spent her life under the limelight, and even today, the media is interested in her every move.
The 25-year-old just presented her directorial debut, The Heart, at the Sundance Film Festival. In the Sundance Institute’s “Meet the Artist” spotlight video, Malia Obama revealed she was going by the name Malia Ann, thus ditching her moniker.
Malia, who was born Malia Ann Obama on July 4, 1998, has her middle name honoring her paternal grandmother, who died from ovarian cancer at the age of 52 in 1995, and now, she has dropped her last name in favor of her middle name.
Speaking of the short film for which she served as both director and screenwriter, Malia said. “This is an odd little story, somewhat of fable, about a man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him an unusual request in her will.” Further, in the YouTube clip of the short film, she wrote, “The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things.”
The Heat isn’t her first attempt into the profession. Previously, the Harvard grad worked in the writers’ room on Donald’s Amazon Prime show Swarm, co-writing the fifth episode, “Girl, Bye.”
“She’s a very professional person,” Swarm‘s co-creator Janine Nabers said Malia in a January 2023 Vanity Fair interview. “She’s an incredible writer and artist. She made significant contributions… She’s very, truly committed to her craft.”
Swarm‘s executive producer Stephen Glover also spoke of Malia. “We can’t be easy on her just because she’s the [former] President’s daughter,” he told Vanity Fair. “No, she is really down-to-earth and cool. So it’s not an issue at all.”
Malia Obama isn’t the first celebrity who made the decision to ditch their family name. Other celebs have done that before, including Nicolas Cage, who changed his last name from Coppola, and Angelina Jolie, who dropped her surname, Voight.
For her directorial debut, Malia looked cozy, with minimal makeup, her curly hair down with small braids scattered throughout.
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