Kevin Costner accuses stuntwoman who sued of lying about her claims of ‘unscripted rape scene’

Kevin Costner’s legal team has requested the dismissal of the lawsuit by stuntwoman Devyn LaBella, who took legal action against him over an alleged unscripted rape scene on the set of his long-delayed sequel Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2.

In her initial complaint, LaBella claimed she was not forewarned about the scene at issue, but Costner’s counsel now say she altered her version of events in her latest legal documents, according to TMZ.

They assert that in her newer filing, LaBella let slip that stunt coordinator Wade Allen ‘met with her in advance and explained the shot to her in advance.’ 

Attorneys for Costner – who directed, co-wrote, produced and starred in Horizon – argue that this indicates LaBella is lying in her allegations against him.

Costner’s lawyers also accuse LaBella of having confessed previously that she had blocked the scene and understood its essentials, such as that the actor would push her dress up toward her knees while she lay in the back of a covered wagon.

An attorney for LaBella shot back: ‘It’s disturbing to see the defendants continue to “mansplain” to Devyn what her own experience was on set.’ 

The lawyer continued: ‘She has sworn under oath to the truth and has produced contemporaneous proof to back it up. Ms. LaBella’s claims have never wavered or changed since the day she first reported this terrible incident to production in May 2023, right after it occurred.’ 

In LaBella’s new documents, which went public Monday, the SAG Award-nominee claimed she was menstruating on set and her underwear was exposed when her pantaloons were ripped ‘from the waist down to the crotch’ by co-star Roger Ivens.

LaBella had filmed a scripted rape scene May 1, 2023 with an intimacy coordinator, but alleged that Costner, 70, provided no coordinator the next day for the unscripted rape scene set in the ‘tight confines of a covered wagon.’

LaBella – who was doubling Ella Hunt’s character Juliette Chesney – claimed Ivens put ‘his hand on or near [her] breast and vaginal areas’ and she felt ‘trapped’ as she was pinned by his large, muscular body.

‘This may be a new filing, but it’s really just more of the same old nonsense,’ Costner’s attorney Marty Singer told the Daily Mail on Monday.

‘These claims are not only groundless, they are ridiculous. There are 12 independent witnesses who confirm that Ms. LaBella’s claims are fabricated.

‘Kevin Costner has been very clear about why he refused to give in to a transparent shakedown. He is determined to stand up and fight for the truth – and we will continue to do so.’

In June, the gymnast shared screengrabs with Us Weekly of her May 3, 2023 text conversation with intimacy coordinator Celeste Chaney where she called the scene ‘an abomination’ and listed off her grievances with the shoot.

But Costner provided a screengrab of a May 11, 2023 text written by Devyn to stunt coordinator/2nd unit director Wade Allen thanking him for ‘these wonderful weeks’ and gushed ‘I’m really happy it worked out the way it did.’

On August 19, the two-time Oscar winner provided the Daily Mail several on-set snaps of LaBella smiling on set with him, and shots of her and Roger filming the scene where her costume remained on her body.

In an August 19th declaration to formally dismiss the lawsuit, Kevin insisted the aerialist’s pantaloons and petticoats remained undisturbed and there was no nudity, rape, simulated sex, or physical contact between the performers.

It’s been a year since Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it received dismal reviews and there is still no release date.

The second chapter of Costner’s western epic stars Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

The Yellowstone alum famously had to mortgage his beachfront property in Santa Barbara and use $38M of his fortune in order to help fund the $100M first two parts of his franchise, set before and after the Civil War.

‘I have to hurry and not let the rock fall back downhill. I’ve gotta go put my hands on it again and start to push it up. It’s a rope that I cannot let go of,’ Kevin vowed to reporters of the third and fourth chapters.

‘I don’t know how I’m gonna make 3 right now, but I’m gonna make it.’

Costner wrote, produced, directed, and starred as horse trader Hayes Ellison in Chapter 1, which only earned $38.7M at the box office and dismal reviews last year.