Kevin Costner and his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner’s ongoing divorce is unearthing some personal details about their marriage. From a feud with a neighbor that may have impacted their marriage to Baumgartner’s request for $248,000 a month in child support payments, it is clear the former couple have had complications brewing for quite some time. And there’s no sign of things simmering down.
Costner, 68, and Baumgartner, 49, have been married for 18 years. However, before they could even say “I do,” the couple almost didn’t make it. In 2002, the Yellowstone actor and the handbag designer briefly split because they weren’t on the same page when it came to having kids.
In a 2018 interview with Closer Weekly, Costner admitted that the split happened because he didn’t want to have more children with Baumgartner. He explained: “For years, fear kept me from marrying Christine. Christine wanted a child, but I was afraid I couldn’t be an effective fat her.”
“I woke up and thought, ‘Am I going to lose a beautiful woman who is willing to be with me to my very last breath because I am afraid to say yes to a child?’” he said. “That’s all it took,” he said. “I decided that I was not going to miss out on love.”
After reuniting and marrying in 2004, the couple went on to have three children, sons Cayden, 15, Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 12. Costner also shares Annie, 39, Lily, 36, and Joe, 35 from his marriage to Cindy Silva and a son Liam, 26, from a brief fling with Bridget Rooney.
Baumgartner filed for divorce at the beginning of May, citing irreconcilable differences. At the time, a source claimed Baumgartner grew weary of her husband spending time away from their family to focus on his career. A source told People that Costner was “obsessed” with filming his upcoming movie, Horizon: An American Saga.
“All of this success and excitement over the new project probably took his attention away from his family more than he realized,” the source added. “Since it didn’t look like that would change and likely could get worse, it caused tension at home.” Understandably, the couple are now taking steps to end their marriage because of these differences. Though their split is unfortunate, it seems they came up against one too many hurdles to overcome.
