Kevin Costner and Horizon producers sued by stunt performer over ‘violent unscripted’ rape scene
A stunt performer is suing Kevin Costner and the producers of his film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, alleging that she was made to perform in a “violent” unscripted rape scene without the required notice, consent or a mandatory intimacy coordinator present.
Devyn LaBella was the lead stunt double for Ella Hunt, who plays Juliette in the Horizon films, a four-part western anthology written, directed by and starring Costner. LaBella’s lawsuit, filed in California on Tuesday, alleges that on 2 May 2023 Costner improvised a scene in which Juliette would be raped, one day after Hunt and LaBella filmed a scripted scene in which Juliette was raped by a different character.
Hunt refused to perform the new scene, the lawsuit alleges, and LaBella was summoned to set, without knowing that Hunt had declined and left.
According to her complaint, LaBella was not warned that the new male actor had been directed to mount her, pin her down and “violently” rake up her skirt. LaBella alleges that Costner told her to “lay down” in a wagon before he directed the male actor “to repeatedly perform a violent simulated rape” on her while Costner “experimented with different takes of the rape action”.
LaBella’s suit alleges that the scene violated contractural protocols negotiated by the performers’ union Sag-Aftra, which requires that all performers are given 48 hours notice and must consent to any scenes involving nudity or simulated sex.
She claims she was not given the required notice and that she did not consent, as stipulated in her contract. She also claims the film’s intimacy coordinator was not present, which was mandatory under Hunt’s contract and applied to LaBella as her stand in.
