Site last updated: Thursday, May 2, 2024

Log In

Reset Password
MENU
Butler County's great daily newspaper

Divorce of Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner is finalized

PEOPLE
Kevin Costner

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A judge has declared that Kevin Costner and his wife of nearly two decades, Christine Baumgartner, are now legally divorced, according to court records filed Tuesday.

The couple's marriage ended, and both became single, on Friday, nine months after she filed for divorce, a judgment entered in Santa Barbara County court showed.

In the first months after their split, Costner And Baumgartner fought in court over child custody and support payments and appeared to be headed for a contentious trial. But they reached a settlement agreement in September that allowed them to avoid it.

The two will have joint custody of their sons, ages 16 and 15, and daughter, age 13. A judge in September ordered Costner to pay about $63,000 per month in child support, after she had sought about $175,000 per month.

Costner, 69, and Baumgartner, 48, a model and handbag designer, began dating in 1998 and married at his Colorado ranch in 2004.

It was the second marriage for Costner, the Oscar and Emmy winning star of TV’s “ Yellowstone ” and films including “Dances With Wolves,” “The Bodyguard” and “Bull Durham.”

He also has four adult children from previous relationships.

———

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman has no interest in entertaining speculation about her reportedly rocky marriage to husband Benjamin Millepied following his alleged affair with a younger woman last year.

When asked about the media’s recent musings on her personal life in a profile for Vanity Fair’s Annual Hollywood Issue, the Academy Award winner, 42, quickly shut it down, calling the chatter “terrible” and saying she has “no desire to contribute to it.”

Portman and the French ballet dancer, 46, met when he was working as a choreographer on 2010’s Oscar-winning film “Black Swan.” News broke by the end of that year that the couple were engaged and expecting son Aleph, who they welcomed in 2011. They wed in 2012 and expanded their family in 2017 with the arrival of their daughter, Amalia.

But reports of trouble in paradise surfaced last summer when multiple outlets claimed Millepied stepped out on the actress in early 2023 with a 25-year-old woman.

“It was short-lived and it is over,” a source told People of the affair.

An insider added that the pair were trying to work through what Millepied knew had been “an enormous mistake.”

“He is doing all he can to get Natalie to forgive him and keep their family together,” the source told the outlet in June. “Natalie is incredibly private and has no intention of playing this out in the media. Her biggest priority is protecting her children and their privacy.”

But by August, Portman was spotted on the couple’s anniversary without her wedding ring, and within days it was reported that the two had separated .

Later that month, British tabloids published photos of Portman and Millepied together with Aleph at the Women’s World Cup final.

———

Joe Alwyn might still be tight-lipped over his split from ex Taylor Swift, but the British actor has finally broken his social media silence just two months before the release of her newest album — largely believed to be inspired by the demise of their love story.

The “Favourite” star on Monday shared an Instagram carousel of photos both old and new, two days before ringing in his 32nd birthday.

Among the shots in Alwyn’s new post are an artsy, black-and-white mirror selfie among nature, as well as a screenshot of David Brent (Ricky Gervais) in the British version of “The Office,” saying, “Different drinks for different needs.” Alwyn also shared a black-and-white snap of him photobombing “Succession” star Brian Cox, and a throwback photo of himself as a young boy.

The “Conversations with Friends” star rarely posts on social media, last sharing photos on Instagram in early September — just weeks before Swift, 34, went viral by showing up for the first time to support new lover Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs.

Alwyn’s post on Monday came just over a week after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers. Photos and videos of Swift and Kelce celebrating the win on and off the field quickly dominated the internet, and even saw the pop star hard-launch their relationship by posting Kelce on her TikTok.

A week prior to the Super Bowl, Swift announced at the Grammy Awards that she’d be dropping her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” on April 19.

The title is widely believed to be a nod to the group chat Alwyn once shared he had going with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott: “The Tortured Man Club.”

Fans have spent much of the last year speculating on the timeline of the roughly six-year relationship gone awry, as news of Swift and Alwyn’s split last spring came as a shock to most.

Late last year, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine slammed celebrity gossip account Deuxmoi for the “insane” rumor that the former couple wed during the COVID-19 pandemic, either formally or in a “marriage-like” ceremony.

The remark followed the streaming release of Swift’s breakup track “You’re Losing Me (From the Vault),” a bonus track from her 2022 album, “Midnights.”

News that the song was written and recorded in early December 2021 — over a year before the world learned Swift and Alwyn had parted ways — led many fans to recalibrate their projected timeline of the relationship.

Prior to dating Kelce, Swift had a brief romance last spring with The 1975’s controversial frontman, Matty Healy.

From combined wire services

More in People

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS