Kevin Costner addresses rumors he’s dating Jewel after his divorce: ‘She’s special’
He wasn’t meant for her.
Kevin Costner shot down the rumors that he’s dating singer Jewel during his interview on “The Howard Stern Show” on June 18.
“Jewel and I are friends — we’ve never gone out. Ever,” said Costner, 69.
He continued: “She’s special, and I don’t want these rumors to ruin our friendship because that’s what we have. She’s special. I mean, she’s beautiful enough to go out with.”
The “Yellowstone” star explained that he and the “Foolish Games” singer, 50, had been romantically linked by rumors after they both went to a charity event on British business magnate Richard Branson’s private island in the Caribbean in December 2023.
“I’m divorced. All of a sudden I’m a single father,” Costner said to Howard Stern, referring to his split from ex-wife Christine Baumgartner that happened months before his run-in with Jewel.
“I got on a plane with nine people — Jewel was one of them,” he explained. “Emma Watson was on there, and seven other people who weren’t celebrities. We were the only three celebrities on an island for three days down there. And then we fly back. She was somebody I just had some tremendous conversations with.”
Costner reiterated that the speculation about him and Jewel was completely untrue.
“The rumor was I went down on a private plane with her. I went back on a private plane [with her]. I was on with nine people, and I don’t want the press to ruin this for us,” he said. “I’ve had conversations with her text-wise, and she’s so smart and she’s been through a lot herself.”
“We have a friendship. We don’t have a romance. We’ve not dated,” Costner added. “She’s beautiful and smart enough for all those things, it just has never happened for us.”
The father of seven also revealed that he had to tell his kids that he wasn’t dating Jewel when the rumors were out there.
Jewel previously denied that she was dating the Oscar winner in April.
“He’s a great person,” she said in an interview with Elle. “The public fascination is intense for sure.”
Speculation about the pair’s relationship initially surfaced when they were seen together in the British Virgin Islands late last year. In one photo at the time, Jewel could even be seen sitting on Costner’s lap as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
A source for the Daily Mail claimed that Branson, 73, helped set them up.
“Richard is 100% responsible for Kevin and Jewel hooking up. She has been a friend of Branson’s for years, and he has been a close friend of Kevin’s since the 1990s,” the insider said at the time. “Richard invited Jewel to hold her charity fund-raiser on Necker and, honestly, the hookup happened organically. They hit it off well, and Jewel seems to be happy about it.”
Costner married to Baumgartner, 50, in 2004, but in May 2023 she filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
The pair went on to have a contentious court battle over child support and their prenuptial agreement, with Baumgartner accusing her ex of misrepresenting his finances. They have three children together, while Costner has four more kids from past relationships.
The former couple finalized their divorce in February 2024.
Jewel, meanwhile, was married to rodeo cowboy Ty Murray — with whom she shares her 12-year-old son, Kase — for six years until their split in 2014.
She was also briefly linked to Sean Penn in 1995.
