The estranged wife of Kevin Costner said in court on Thursday that a mutual friend of theirs is not her boyfriend. During a court appearance in Santa Barbara County on Thursday, Christine Baumgartner testified that Josh Connor, a mutual friend of the former couple, isn’t her boyfriend. In legal documents Costner filed Wednesday, he did not mention Connor explicitly but implied as much when he claimed that “her boyfriend recently gave her $20,000,” reported Entertainment Tonight. On the stand during a hearing to determine how much child support Costner should pay for his three children, Baumgartner was asked about her vacation in Hawaii with Connor in July. On the stand, Baumgartner claimed that Connor had been a longtime friend for “seven or eight years.” When asked by Baumgartner’s attorney, John Rydell, “Is he your boyfriend?” Baumgartner replied, “No.” Nevertheless, Baumgartner did tearfully concede that Connor had given her $20,000. Baumgartner also testified that she gave half of the money to her mother. When asked why she was so emotional, Baumgartner said that she worried about her mother’s wellbeing. She also stated that Costner was giving her mother $5,000 a month, which she no longer receives.
According to ET, after being ordered to leave Costner’s beach club estate last month, Baumgartner said she was able to find new housing for her and the kids only after her brother paid $80,000 for the deposit for a rental property in Montecito. Additionally, Baumgartner said she paid him back and signed a 6-month lease for $40,000. She revealed that the $20,000 Connor gave Baumgartner was in cash under cross-examination. The lawyer questioned why she was given the money, and she clarified that she had no access to funds and the money was not a gift. She also clarified that she was planning on paying him back. It was also questioned by Costner’s attorney why she went to Hawaii in July when she had been awarded $129,000 in child support in the first place and if she was so worried about her finances. Baumgartner responded by explaining that she had more concerns about her mother’s anxiety. Connor paid for the trip to Hawaii, she told the jury. Baumgartner traveled to Hawaii in July with a group of friends and their children, among them Connor and his daughter, who is “best friends” with Grace Costner, 13. Connor, according to Baumgartner, “paid for the house.” Rydell asked her about claims Connor “gave Christine money,” and she said, “I can’t remember if it was before or after (the March or July trips to Hawaii).”
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According to Baumgartner, she needed her brother to put up the deposit money for the Montecito property since Costner was supposed to deposit it into her account, but she “panicked” when he didn’t. Baumgartner said she might work with children or teach in the future as a way to earn money. In this first of two hearings, the former couple will be discussing child support for their children, sons Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 13. At the beginning of this case, the court ordered Costner to pay her $129,000 per month (he initially wished to pay $51,900), and in the recent past, she asked the court to increase that amount to $161,000 per month (she originally wanted $248,000 per month). Following an 18-year marriage, Baumgartner filed for divorce in May.
Court documents filed by Baumgartner and obtained by ET on Wednesday reveal that Costner calls Baumgartner’s assertion that he “steadfastly refuses” to pay child support sufficient to meet the reasonable needs of his children as “demonstrably false and purposely inflammatory.” Costner explained that he and Baumgartner are at odds on what a child’s “reasonable needs” are in the context of child support, and he did not hold back when describing her “baseless character attacks” against him.”Christine’s relentless ‘jihad’ against Kevin’s character adds a level of animosity to this proceeding that is wholly unnecessary,” the court documents state. In their child support case, Costner has proposed paying Baumgartner $63,209 per month in child support, and he is adamant that the amount meets the reasonable needs of the couple’s children, and he pleaded that child support exceeding that amount is disguised spousal support. The next hearing will be held on Friday.
