A lawsuit against Kevin Costner stemming from an unscheduled rape scene on the set of Horizon: Chapter 2 will move forward, Variety reports. Earlier today, Judge Jon Takasugi denied Costner’s bid to have the suit tossed under California’s anti-SLAPP law, which protects free speech from frivolous litigation. The judge didn’t buy it, saying that he was “somewhat skeptical” that the scene showed, how Costner’s lawyers put it, “the horrific struggles endured by women […] including their vulnerability to rape and other forms of violence.”
Stunt woman Devyn LaBella sued Costner in May over a rape scene on the set of Horizon 2 that she claims violated SAG-AFTRA rules, which require advance notice and the presence of an intimacy coordinator. LaBella was a stunt double for Ella Hunt, who played Juliette in the first two Horizon movies. According to the initial suit, Hunt left the set “visibly upset” due to the script changes and absence of an intimacy coordinator. After Hunt walked off, LaBella stood in for Hunt. She had previously worked on such intimate scenes on Horizon, and the production provided a closed set, an intimacy coordinator, and rehearsal time for those scenes. LaBella reported that the scene in question was more violent and humiliating because it was not a closed set, and Costner, allegedly, failed to call action or cut. She claims the experience left her traumatized and humiliated.
Costner has since denied the allegations. “Devyn’s claims against me are absolutely false, and it is deeply disappointing to me that a woman who worked on our production would claim that I or any other of the production team would make one of our own feel uncomfortable, let alone suffer the ‘nightmare’ she has invented,” Costner said in a court declaration. “I can only assume that the purpose was to use this sensationalistic language to embarrass and damage me and the Horizon movies on an ongoing basis in order to gain a massive and unjustified payday. Equally as bad, having to read about and address allegations I know to be false involving the words ‘rape’ and ‘assault’ has been an absolute nightmare.”
The lawsuit is another stumbling block for Costner’s ambitious Horizon series. Intended as a four-part epic, the first film failed to lasso anyone in theaters, and while the second part is complete, it has yet to find distribution. The other two films have not found financing yet, but Costner has been to Saudi Arabia to accept a lifetime achievement award and for “cursory” talks about funding. More recently, an exposé by THR reported that Costner “lunged” at his Yellowstone co-star Wes Bentley on the set of the hit western.
