COSTNER’S SLY EX MAKES IT OFFICIAL!
Dating his pal after denying affair during ugly divorce!
TV COWBOY Kevin Costner is livid after his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner was busted for enjoying overnight trysts with his onetime friend Josh Connor, a revelation sources say shattered the bitter couple’s temporary ceasefire!
“Kevin’s bothered by the sheer treachery of their behavior,” dishes a source. “He’s got zero doubt they’re trash-talking him, spending his money and laughing behind his back” after Christine swore under oath during ugly divorce proceedings that Josh was not her boyfriend!
But weeks before her testimony, The National ENQUIRER caught Christine and financier Josh, both 49, vacationing together in July
— and staying at the same posh Hawaiian villa.
Christine explained the adventure in paradise as a family trip with their children while insisting both clans stayed in separate rooms and there was no hanky-panky. After her divorce became official, she and Josh took a trip to New York in December and went back to Hawaii, too. Now, sources say they are indeed an item. They’ve reportedly been seen visiting each other’s homes in Montecito, Calif. — with divorced dad Josh having his own key to her house. Recent photos show her dropping him off at his place, carting a suitcase. Meanwhile, 70-year-old Kevin has hooked up with singer Jewel, 49, but the romance doesn’t seem to temper his fury over Christine’s canoodling, spies say.
“Kevin is committed to what he’s got going with Jewel, and he’s not still hung up on Christine or even jealous of his old friend,” says an insider. “But the seeming betrayal gets under his skin.” As ENQUIRER readers know, the Yellowstone stud was blindsided by the handbag designer’s May divorce filing after 18 years of marriage. Christine launched an attack to void their prenup, but it was upheld by a judge. Kevin was ordered to pay her a relatively modest $63,209 per month in child support for their kids, Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13.
For a while, the estranged couple maintained an uneasy peace, but sources say it’s now been shattered by Christine’s budding romance. “Kevin was hoping 2024 would signal a fresh, amicable start for himself and Christine, but now he can’t stand the thought of being in the same room,” spills the source. “He’s disgusted by her and finds this whole saga sordid and humiliating.”
Meanwhile, Christine has beefs of her own.
“She’s sticking to her guns that it’s nobody’s business who she dates,” says the insider. “To her, it totally stinks that Kevin can do no wrong while she’s being picked to pieces for having a male friend. She’s done apologizing or excusing herself — for anything!”