Kevin Costner’s Court Scandal Explodes — Former Co-Star Jumps In With Shocking Defense!

As Kevin Costner‘s ongoing court battle with a stuntwoman named Devyn LaBella heats up, his former co-star is speaking out in his defense. LaBella, 35, fired off a lawsuit in Los Angeles, California, in May, alleging she was ‘the victim of a violent, unscripted, unscheduled r*pe scene’ in Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, which was directed by Costner, 70.

While serving as a double for actress Ella Hunt, she alleged the scene caused a number of damages, including sxxual harassment, sxxual discrimination, hostile work environment and intentional infliction of emotional distress among other things. Two of the 10 claims have been dismissed by a judge as of mid-October – one of which was a claim for sxxual harassment and the other was in regards to the Bane Act, an anti-hate crime statute. LaBella claimed Costner and the other defendants, including Horizon Series, ‘acted despicably and subjected Ms. LaBella to cruel and unjust hardship.’ She also alleged they ‘engaged in malicious, fraudulent, and oppressive conduct.’

Now, one of Costner’s co-stars, Jefferson White, who was part of Yellowstone for seven years, has shared a different story about working with the Academy Award winner. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, White, 36, spoke highly of Costner and compared working with him to catching a pass from ‘one of the great quarterbacks in history.’

‘Meeting him, it always kind of lined up with the character on the show for me that John Dutton [Costner’s character] in that universe is kind of a legend. And to Jimmy [White’s character], when he meets John Dutton, he’s like meeting a living legend. It always felt like that, meeting Kevin for me. And then it was also amazing just how present he was, how much he really authentically cared,’ White spilled. When you’ve done it for that long, you can sort of start phoning it in if you really want to, and he never did. He really very authentically cared very much.’

The actor, who currently stars in the holiday film Drink and Be Merry, went on to say that he learned a lot from watching Costner act on set.

‘It’s like those [scenes] are masterclasses, that’s such a gift. It’s like you get to catch passes from one of the great quarterbacks in history. It’s such a rare and precious opportunity,’ he continued. Mostly, I was sort of grateful anytime that he had guidance or thoughts, but he also was very collaborative and open. He liked to rehearse. He liked to talk through stuff. He really took it very seriously, and that’s an amazing thing, and it sets the tone on a set. Everybody on that show, everybody on that set loved it and wanted it to be the best thing that it could possibly be, and that’s the recipe. You need people who care. So, that was really kind of trickled down, and that’s what I tried to absorb from Kevin and from all the other amazing actors on that set, was to keep pushing it to be better and better instead of just settling.’

When asked about Costner’s ongoing lawsuit, White said he had not heard about it, despite its circulation for seven months now. ‘I actually don’t know anything about that,’ he responded to the Daily Mail. After details were shared, that it was a sxxual harassment lawsuit against a stunt woman in Horizon, he insisted, ‘I have not heard anything about this. Yeah, I’m not sure.’

He did, however, praise a stuntman he worked with on Yellowstone named Bobby Roberts, who would step in for his character, Jimmy Hurdstrom, when needed – although White didn’t have a problem with ‘getting punched’. ‘On Yellowstone, I had an incredible series of stunt men. Bobby Roberts was my primary stuntman on Yellowstone because he was a real bronc rider. So anytime I had to do a bucking sequence on that show, that was almost always Bobby Roberts. Sometimes you’re pretending to get shot. Sometimes somebody much braver than you is is getting shot. They do it with all sorts of tricks.’

Yellowstone ended in 2024 after an alleged dispute between Costner and the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, as there were scheduling conflicts between the pair as well as creative disputes over the show’s storyline.  However, there have been other Yellowstone spinoffs, including prequels 1883 and 1923, which were released in 2021 and 2022, respectively. 1923’s season two aired earlier this year and ended in April. A sequel titled Y: Marshals is expected to premiere on CBS in March 2026, which follows Kayce Dutton – played by Luke Grimes – as he joins a specialized group of U.S. Marshals and is tasked with protecting Montana, per the show’s synopsis. As far as whether or not fans can expect to see White in any of the show’s spinoffs, he told the Daily Mail, ‘Not that I know of now… I kept my fingers crossed, but also, I’d be grateful if I got to do more and I’m grateful for what I got to do. I don’t want to be selfish. We got a lot of great mileage out of that show.’ Going on to say the show ‘changed my life,’ the Iowa native compared it to ‘winning the lottery,’ as being on a show for seven years is such a ‘rare and lucky thing.’

He’s since filmed 11 movies after Yellowstone and will star as Mr. McCoy in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, a movie that’s set 24 years before 2008’s The Hunger Games. Meanwhile, Costner, who is in the midst of filming Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 3, is still battling LaBella in court after he filed an appeal in October, requesting the judge dismiss the remaining eight claims in the lawsuit. Costner’s lawyer Marty Singer told Daily Mail at the time: ‘We were pleased to learn that the Court granted our anti-SLAPP motion in part, dismissing two of the plaintiff’s claims (including one of her claims for sxxual harassment). ‘While we were disappointed with the Court’s decision to allow her remaining causes of action to proceed, the evidence is clear that they have no legal or factual merit, and we plan to appeal the Court’s decision promptly.’

Singer stressed that claims made by LaBella were patently false, and motivated by finances. ‘In spite of the plaintiff’s outlandish allegations, there was never any “simulated r*pe, “simulated sxx or sxxual harassment” – and absolutely no retaliation,’ Costner’s lawyer said. Singer said LaBella ‘is seeking millions of dollars for agreeing to participate in the rehearsal of a single, benign shot that even she admits was explained to her in advance.’ Costner’s attorney vowed to ‘continue to fight for the truth’ and said he and his team were ‘extremely confident we will prevail.’

Meanwhile, attorneys for Devyn LaBella told the Daily Mail in a statement that their client ‘was subjected to an unscripted, unplanned violent r*pe scene, which is the basis for her suit.’ LaBella’s attorney Kate McFarlane said that ‘the logical conclusion of the Defense argument is that you can r*pe or kill someone so long as it’s part of the “creative process.” The creative process cannot be used a shield for unlawful conduct.’ A hearing was expected to take place on December 5th but it was not held, per the court. The next hearing is expected to take place March of next year.