Kevin Costner came up quite short today in his bid to have Horizon II stuntwoman Devyn LaBella’s sexual harassment and hostile workplace lawsuit tossed out. Still, while industry vet LaBella saw only two of her 10 claims against the Oscar winner dismissed, lawyers for Costner are already promising late Thursday to file a fast appeal.
Following a hearing downtown this morning in LA Superior Court, Judge Jon R. Takasugi affirmed his tentative ruling in the initially May filed matter – and, put it this way, it wasn’t quite as bad as Waterworld for Costner, but he was certainly left legal drenched. “Defendants’ special motion to strike is GRANTED as to the fourth and seventh causes of action, but DENIED as to all other causes of action,” he said in a final ruling stripping LaBella’s Sexual Harassment in Violation of California Civil Code claim and her Interference with the Exercise of Civil Rights In Violation of the Bane Act claim from the suit going forward.
“While Plaintiffs evidence could show that a reasonable person would have felt harassed, the evidence could not support a claim that Plaintiff felt that she would be subjected to physical violence if she did not participate in the scene,” Judge Takasugi stated of the on the still unreleased second film in the Costner heavy financed Horizon: An American Saga franchise.
Previously, Costner’s team has termed LaBella’s accusations of being “the victim of a violent unscripted, unscheduled rape scene,” with the lack of SAG-AFTRA mandated “intimacy or stunt coordinatoron the May 2, 2023 set of Horizon II was the absence of “an intimacy or stunt coordinator, a “bold-faced lie.” The Yellowstone vet also called the whole action an attempt to “damage my reputation.”
At this point in the case, looking to head towards trial more than ever, that’s not how Judge Takasugi saw things in his final order today
“While Plaintiff alleges a single incident, she submitted evidence which could show that she was subjected to an unplanned simulated rape scene which was performed without a discussion, explanation, choreography session or stunt or intimacy coordinator present,” the judge wrote in his final order on the Marty Singer repped Costner’s anti-SLAPP motion Thursday. “At the very least, this evidence could suggest that a reasonable person, in the same position, and considering all the circumstance, would find this to be a hostile work environment.”
“As such, the Court finds Plaintiff has substantiated a legally tenable claim through a facially sufficient evidentiary showing for her claims for sexual discrimination and harassment. Given this conclusion, Plaintiff has necessarily substantiated a legally tenable claim for failure to prevent.”
In documents placed in the LASC docket last month, LaBella’s Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai and Valli Kane & Vagnini lawyers stated: The May 2nd shot was missing all of Ms. Labella’s contractually required protections. This is the basis for the lawsuit, not the content or creative process of filming a sexually violent film.”
Thursday, in what may be the heaviest part of today’s order, Judge Takasugi put the weight of his interpretation of the law and labor contracts on LaBella’s side.
“As for the breach of contract cause of action, Plaintiff submitted evidence that provisions of the SAG-AFTRA Basic Agreement (MBA or Basic Agreement) were breached,” he wrote of the lack of the intimacy or stunt coordinator for the rape scene LaBella was doing in the absence of lead Horizon II actress Ella Hunt. “Plaintiff has submitted evidence to show that these provisions were breached when blocking out the incident in question, and Plaintiff has thus substantiated a legally tenable claim through a facially sufficient evidentiary showing for her claim for breach of contract.”
LaBella was at the LASC session this morning. Kevin Costner was not.
After the hearing, LaBella lawyer James A. Vagnini told Deadline: “Today, the court stood with Devyn and recognized the strong merits of her case, an important step towards unveiling the truth about what happened that day and creating accountability for those who abuse their power. We hope the Defendants won’t waste any more time on frivolous motions and panicked stall tactics, and instead allow for the discovery phase, when we’ll hear directly from the witnesses on set about the events that transpired. We look forward to our continued pursuit of justice for Ms.LaBella as she bravely continues to stand her ground.”
Fellow attorney Kate McFarlane added: “The creative process cannot and does not give men in power complete impunity to abuse women like Ms. LaBella. We were confident we would prevail against Defendants on this frivolous motion, and we did. We anticipate Defendants will continue to employ similar tactics in an attempt to prevent their despicable conduct from ever reaching the eyes and ears of a jury. We won’t back down.”
On the other side, never one to walk away from a fight for his clients, Singer said: “We were pleased to learn that the Court granted our anti-SLAPP motion in part, dismissing two of the plaintiff’s claims – including one of her claims for sexual harassment. While we were disappointed with the Court’s decision to allow her remaining causes of action to proceed, the evidence is clear that they have no legal or factual merit, and we plan to appeal the Court’s decision promptly. In spite of the plaintiff’s outlandish allegations, there was never any ‘simulated rape,’ ‘simulated sex’ or sexual harassment – and absolutely no retaliation. Rather, she is seeking millions of dollars for agreeing to participate in the rehearsal of a single, benign shot that even she admits was explained to her in advance. We will continue to fight for the truth and we are extremely confident we will prevail.”
Perhaps, perhaps, but what is sure is that Costner has another kick at the case on the calendar for December in a demurrer hearing. Still, with the disappointing box office of the first Horizon, the lack of Horizon II on the big screen, and third and fourth installments of Horizon looking as likely as a return of the Wild West itself, however this case ends up sorted, Costner may still come a cropper.
The post Kevin Costner Sexual Harassment Suit By ‘Horizon II’ Stuntwoman Will Continue, Judge Rules; Oscar Winner Plans ASAP Appeal appeared first on Deadline.
