Photo: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Kevin Costner denied allegations of sexual harassment on set Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 found in lawsuit On May 27, stuntman Devin LaBella filed against Costner. Now, several months later, Los Angeles Judge John Takasugi on October 16 denied Costner's motion to dismiss the case under California's anti-SLAPP law. Only one of LaBella's ten lawsuits was dismissed, the one related to the Bane Act; In the original statement, LaBella claimed that Costner “demanded” that she be present at the scene. “Plaintiff does not identify anything that Costner or any other person said to her that constituted 'threats, intimidation or coercion' of the kind required by the Bane Act,” the judge said. explained in published documentation.
Initially, in a statement filed Aug. 19 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Costner called the allegations “absolutely false” in response to LaBella's allegations that Costner directed an impromptu rape scene without a sex coordinator or proper protocols. “Devin's description of this footage as a 'violent simulated rape' is absurd and sensational. It is beyond false. It is a blatant lie designed to create widespread, public shock and damage to the films and to me personally,” Costner said in a statement. “Devin's claims against me are completely false, and I am deeply disappointed that a woman who worked on our production would claim that I or any other member of my production team would cause any of us to feel uncomfortable, let alone suffer through the 'nightmare' she created. I am convinced that Devyn's claims were developed through false statements and sensationalism.” language intended to damage my reputation.”
Horizon Intimacy coordinator Celeste Chaney supported LaBella's claims that the scene “came out of the blue to the actors and stunt performers” in an amended complaint against June 18. According to Cheney, Ella Hunt was invited to film a more dramatic scene than planned, but Hunt did not want to participate without a sex coordinator. “Due to a lack of communication and the absence of a coordinator on set (a contractual obligation),” Chaney wrote, “Ella Hunt was not prepared to give this performance. Visibly upset, she left the set. It was at this time that Devin Labella, Juliet's stunt double, who also had not been briefed or prepared for the scene, was asked to stand up and 'line up' frame””.
