Kevin Costner calls allegations surrounding Horizon rape scene "absolutely false"

A stunt performer on Horizon: Chapter 2 sued director and star Kevin Costner over an unscripted rape scene that she claims violated union rules.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  August 19, 2025 | 10:37pm
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Kevin Costner calls allegations surrounding Horizon rape scene

In a new court filing, Kevin Costner denies allegations made by stunt performer Devyn LaBella, who sued Costner for disregarding safety and union rules during the filming of an unscheduled rape scene on Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 2. Costner claims that the allegations were designed to “embarrass and damage” the director and the Horizon movies for an “unjustified payday.” LaBella sued Costner in May, alleging that the director forced her to film an unscripted and unrehearsed rape scene without an intimacy coordinator or proper rehearsal time. Motioning to throw out the lawsuit, Costner called the accusations “patently false,” claiming that the scene in question was “one artistic shot designed to imply what was going to happen off-screen.” The scene was “not a ‘simulated rape’ as Devyn falsely describes it.”

“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 says in the 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.”

Per Deadline, LaBella’s claims were supported by the film’s intimacy coordinator, Celeste Chaney, who agreed that the scene was “unexpectedly sprung” on the performers. Chaney also explained LaBella’s assertion that Ella Hunt, for whom LaBella was doubling, left the set “visibly upset.”

“Due to a lack of communication and the lack of an intimacy coordinator on set (a contractual obligation),” Chaney wrote. “Ella Hunt was not prepared to give this performance. Visibly upset, she left set. It was at this time that Devyn LaBella, [Hunt’s] stunt double, who was also not briefed or prepared for the scene, was asked to stand in to ‘line up the shot.'”

However, the film’s stunt coordinator, Wade Allen, who hired and supervised LaBella, said the scene contained “no intimacy, no nudity, no sexual conduct or sexual movement of any kind.” Allen also claims, “At no point that day did [LaBella] evidence any distress or discomfort, or any concern about what she had been asked to do.”

Variety reports that LaBella’s lawyer, James Vagnini, responded to Costner’s declaration, claiming it was another example of powerful men avoiding responsibility for “harmful behavior.”

“This filing is continued evidence that one of Hollywood’s most powerful men is trying to skirt accountability for reckless and harmful behavior,” Vagnini said. “This baseless motion is nothing but a desperate delay tactic from a panicked legal team with no real defense. The only things damaging Kevin Costner’s reputation are his own reckless, harmful behavior and the offensive narrative he’s spreading to cover it up.”

 
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