Kevin Costner, 70, is leaning on his first wife, Cindy Silva, after being heartbroken by the end of his marriage to Christine Baumgartner last year.
‘Kevin and Cindy have stayed close friends and she has been guiding him in recent months over his heartbreak from Christine as she is a wise woman,’ a source told DailyMail.com.
‘He really appreciates that their sad split has led to such a beautiful friendship. She is an ally and offers great advice. He leans on her quite often.’
It also helps that they have three children together – Lily, Joe and Annie – which is like the ‘glue’ of their platonic relationship.
‘Often they get together for the kids’ birthdays and are able to spend quality time together. It’s all very amicable and friendly,’ added the insider.
Several years ago Kevin expressed he ‘still has love for Cindy’ as he called her a ‘real lady.’
The couple met while they were both students at California State University – Fullerton in 1975. They wed in 1978 and in November 1994 Cindy filed for divorce after 16 years of marriage.
Eventually, Silva – who is now 68 – was awarded around $80 million in the divorce settlement in 1994.
Cindy, who used to hit red carpets with Kevin and also appeared in his blockbuster film Dances With Wolves, has stepped out of the spotlight and is now living a much quieter life in Santa Barbara, California with her business executive husband of over 20 years, Larry Ameen.
Larry was a executive in the denim clothing industry for brands such as Jordache Jeans and Pepe Jeans. He later became the CEO of Dogwood Investments Inc.
She also goes by the name Cindy Antonucci-Ameen.
Since his split from Christine, Kevin has been linked to Jewel, Sharon Stone and Jennifer Lopez, but there seems to be no evidence of any romance with those ladies.
Less than two years after splitting from Cindy, Costner had a son, Liam, with Bridget Rooney, heiress to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and aunt of actresses Rooney and Kate Mara.
That affair is rumored to have cost the actor $7 million.
The Bodyguard star told the Seattle Times he took responsibility for his role in the demise of his marriage to Cindy, but did not go into detail.
‘A series of events conspired to happen at the same time. I know it hurt some people that I had failed in my marriage. And the marriage was my own failure,’ he said.
He was also linked to Playboy model Angie Everheart and the daughter of casino magnate Steve Wynn.
‘It was hard on Cindy and our children. It didn’t help things. The only thing it did was hurt. The collapse of my marriage was the hardest thing of all for me,’ the Dances With Wolves star said.
Costner went on to express his love for his first wife: ‘You can put this on the record. Through all the pain, Cindy’s been what I always thought she was a real lady. I still have love for Cindy.’
The article notes that Costner was shortly due to begin filming the romantic comedy Tin Cup, it was on that movie’s set where he met his second wife, Baumgartner, who was then 21.
Silva supported Costner when he was a struggling actor, taking on odd-jobs that included performing as Snow White at Disneyland.
‘We have amicably resolved all issues regarding our children and financial affairs and a full marital settlement has been reached.
‘We ask to be allowed the dignity of sorting through this more painful part of our lives in private,’ a statement from the couple read in 1994.
In a 2012 interview with Parade Magazine, Costner was asked about what the secret was to a good marriage.
‘Maybe it’s the ability to say you’re sorry. I know that sounds so simple. If you’re willing to tell somebody that you love them, are you also willing to say you’re sorry? You need to, even when you think you’re in the right,’ The Untouchables star said.
Kevin and Christine first began dating in 1998, having met around 1996 while Costner was filming his movie Tin Cup. The Bodyguard star said that at the time he first met her, he wasn’t ready to fall in love again.
They married in 2004 in Aspen, Colorado.
The reason for the long courtship was because Costner was not sure if wanted more kids. The uncertainty even led them to break up for a period prior to their engagement.
‘Fear kept me from marrying Christine. [She] wanted a child, but I was afraid I couldn’t be an effective father.’
‘I woke up and thought, ‘Am I going to lose a beautiful woman who is willing to be with me to my very last breath because I am afraid to say yes to a child?’ That’s all it took. Sometimes you learn the thing you’re most afraid of will save your life,’ he told Closer Weekly in 2018.
As a recently as 2020, Costner spoke glowingly about how the couple’s relationship strengthened during the Covid-19 pandemic. He told People: ‘Our partnership has really come into focus about what we do for each other and how we deal with our family.’
In 2022, Radar Online reported that Costner was given an ultimatum from his wife. The report said that she was demanding that he quit his hit show Yellowstone due to the fact that he was gone from home so often.
‘The show is such a mega-hit, producers want it to go on forever! [Baumgartner] wants a firm commitment this is his last season — or he might have to!,’ a source told the website.