Kevin Costner has called the claim that a stunt performer was forced to perform an unscripted rape scene in Horizon 2 a ‘bold-faced lie’.
Devyn LaBella, a stunt performer working on Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, filed a lawsuit earlier this year claiming that the brutal rape scene was in violation of union protocols.
The alleged incident took place on set in May 2023 in Utah, where LaBella had been hired as lead stunt double to do some basic stand-in shots for one of the film’s stars.
In a legal declaration filed Monday in the LA Superior Court, Costner called the breach of contract suit a ‘lie’ and was designed to damage his reputation.
‘I can only assume that 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.’
He added that the claims were ‘patently false’ and ‘deeply disappointing’.
In the lawsuit filed in May, LaBella described being pinned down in a wagon, and a male actor was directed ‘to repeatedly perform a violent simulated rape’.
She claimed ‘the scene was broadcast publicly on monitors for the entire crew to witness … anyone could walk by and observe the scene being performed.’
The complaint detailed accusations of sexual discrimination, harassment and the creation of a hostile work environment on set and claims that she faced retaliation as well as not being called back to work on the Horizon set.
In June, an amendment was filed by an intimacy co-ordinator, Celest Chaney, who supported LaBella’s account.
Chaney called the incident an ‘unscheduled, unplanned violent rape scene’ that ‘was unexpectedly sprung on the actors and stunt professionals’.
Chaney added that LaBella ‘did not have the appropriate modesty garments to ensure adequate coverage, safety, or protection.’
The filing from Costner’s lawyer, Marty Singer, claimed that LaBella was happy throughout production but is lying in order to obtain money.
‘The reality, as supported by the sworn testimony of a dozen respected, veteran film crew members with personal knowledge of the facts at issue in this dispute, real-time photographs of the shot in question, and LaBella’s own words at the time, is that LaBella’s opportunistic and salacious lawsuit is just as fictional as the motion picture at the center of this dispute,’ Singer claimed.
Costner left a lucrative role on the hit show Yellowstone to film Horizon.
He put $38million (£28m) of his own money into the estimated $100m (£74m) budget for the first two films, period westerns set in the late 1800s that Costner directed and co-wrote with Jon Baird and said were ‘made for men’.
Costner debuted the first (of a planned four films) in the Horizon franchise at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, where he received a 10-minute standing ovation. Despite the ovation, the film was a flop at the box office.
The second film is scheduled to be released following the first, but has been delayed indefinitely following the reception of the first film.
The movie stars Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Abbey Lee, and Jamie Campbell Bower.
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