Kevin Costner‘s marital and professional woes continue escalating as he confronts a demanding divorce and his departure from the renowned show, ‘Yellowstone.’ His estranged wife of 19 years, Christine Baumgartner, is seeking a considerable $248,000 a month for child support, something Costner insists he can’t accommodate given his recent professional shift.
Until recently, ‘Yellowstone,’ where Costner portrayed the central character John Dutton since its premiere in 2018, represented a substantial part of his income. However, following an announced exit from the show, the actor asserts that his earnings are set to decline notably in 2023 compared to 2022. This looming financial shift, Costner has indicated, arises because he no longer holds a steady contract with ‘Yellowstone.’ According to US Weekly, his statement in legal documents declares…
“I will earn substantially less in 2023 than I did in 2022. This is because I am no longer under contract for Yellowstone, the principal source of my income last year.”
Baumgartner’s hefty child support request comes at an inopportune time for Costner, who is grappling with the end of his character John Dutton’s reign in ‘Yellowstone.’ The patriarch’s absence is anticipated to feel odd for fans as they traverse the latter half of the show’s fifth season. This emotional transition is further complicated by disputes between the series creator Taylor Sheridan and Costner about his final appearances on the show.
Costner’s future income, he claims, is expected to be variable, depending mainly on the success of his other projects. He recently began filming for the Horizon saga, an upcoming American epic Western film series where he serves multiple roles – actor, director, and producer. However, he has had to defer his salary for these projects to a later date, indicating that Baumgartner’s monthly child support request isn’t feasible. Instead, Costner has offered to pay $51,940 monthly and take care of their children’s health insurance, extracurricular activities, private school tuition, and vehicle costs.
The current financial contention also extends to disagreement about the couple’s premarital agreement, with Baumgartner planning to contest its legitimacy in court. Amidst these troubles, fans of ‘Yellowstone’ are left with an uncertain future and potential spin-offs, as the series is set to conclude after the fifth season. As the aftershocks of Costner’s professional and personal decisions ripple outward, fans and the actor brace for the imminent changes.