Kevin Costner sued by ‘Horizon' stunt double over ‘unscripted' rape scene

Global News

3 days ago

Actor Kevin Costner and producers of his film Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2 are being sued by one of the movie's stunt performers over allegations that she was forced to perform a violent, unscripted rape scene without consent or prior warning.
Devyn Labella, the lead stunt double for Ella Hunt, who plays a character named Juliette in the Horizon franchise — a four-part western series written and directed by Costner, who also stars in the movie — filed a lawsuit in California on Tuesday.
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Kevin Costner on the red carpet for 'Horizon: An American Saga' at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2024, in Cannes, France. Gisela Schober / Getty Images
She is claiming that on May 2, 2023, Costner made her partake in an improvised rape scene the day after Hunt and LaBella had shot a scripted scene also depicting rape by a different character.
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Hunt declined to film the unscripted scene, according to the filing. Consequently, LaBella was called to fill in, unaware that Hunt had refused to participate and vacated the set.
The lawsuit alleges that LaBella was not given prior warning that a new male actor in the impromptu scene had been instructed to 'climb on top of Ms. Hunt (LaBella)' and 'violently' pull up her skirt.
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'Defendant Costner, who was present on the set, specifically added this scene, which varied from the scene filmed the day before, which had not involved pulling up the actor's skirt. Moreover, this revised scene is not specified in the assigned call sheet for that day,' lawyers for the plaintiff argued.
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Left to right: Isabelle Fuhrman, Ella Hunt, Kevin Costner, Sienna Miller and Abbey Lee Kershaw attend the 'Horizon: An American Saga' photocall at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2024, in Cannes, France. Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Getty Images
According to LaBella, during the filming of the scene, Costner told her to 'lay down' in a wagon while he directed the male actor to 'repeatedly perform a violent simulated rape' on her, while Costner continued to experiment with different angles and 'takes.'
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The lawsuit argues that Costner violated the terms of LaBella's contract, established by her union, SAG-AFTRA, which requires all performers to consent to participating in scenes simulating sex or involving nudity and to receive 48 hours' notice ahead of filming sequences of that nature.
LaBella says she was not given the required warning and that she did not consent, as required in her contract. She also says there was no intimacy co-ordinator present, which is compulsory under Hunt's contract, and also applied to LaBella as her stunt double.
In addition, the lawsuit claims the set was not closed. It is common practice that during the filming of intimate scenes, only a skeleton crew is present. However, LaBella claims that 'the scene was broadcast publicly on monitors for the entire crew to witness … anyone could walk by and observe the scene being performed.'
It also states that, unlike the unscripted rape scene, the scripted one filmed the day prior was rehearsed and overseen by an intimacy co-ordinator on a closed set, as stipulated in her contract.
LaBella is seeking damages for sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and breach of contract.
She claims to have been left in the wagon alone after the scene wrapped, saying that she felt 'shock, embarrassment, and humiliation while attempting to process the situation,' and that she was 'holding back tears.'
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LaBella was required to continue working on another scene afterward, despite her 'terrified' feelings, her lawyers say.
In a statement to Variety, Costner's lawyer, Marty Singer, denied the allegations, saying his client 'always wants to make sure that everyone is comfortable working on his films and takes safety on set very seriously,' adding that LaBella's claim has 'absolutely no merit, and it is completely contradicted by her own actions — and the facts.'
'Ms. LaBella is a serial accuser of people in the entertainment industry and has worked with the same lawyer on past claims. But those shakedown tactics won't work in this case,' he continued.
Costner argues that LaBella was briefed on the scene and allowed to rehearse it before giving a 'thumbs up' to her stunt co-ordinator, which, according to his lawyers, indicated her willingness to participate if she was needed, which she was not, Costner says.
Instead, he says LaBella attended a dinner with the stunt co-ordinators, was in 'good spirits' and made 'no complaints to them.'
According to the lawsuit, LaBella was not rehired for the filming of the third installment and has not been called back to work with the stunt co-ordinators on any other projects despite having worked with them on multiple projects before.