How an affair rumor brought down the world's best Hula dancer and infuriated Kevin Costner
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kevin Costner's impending split from Christine Baumgartner after 19 years of marriage wouldn't be his first rodeo in divorce court. In 1994, the Oscar-winning actor's then-wife, Cindy Silva, filed for divorce after 16 years of marriage. They had met while studying at California State University, Fullerton and went on to have three children together.
The former couple parted ways amid reports that Costner was having an affair with a world renowned hula dancer named Michele Kaulu Amaral, while he was filming 'Waterworld' in Hawaii. Silva eventually walked away with around $80 million in the divorce settlement. Costner had a son, Liam, with Pittsburgh Steelers heiress Bridget Rooney less than two years after that split. That affair is said to have cost the 'Yellowstone' star $7 million.
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Kevin Costner and Michele Amaral
According to the Daily Mail, Amaral was a married mother of two when she met Costner. A New York Daily News article at the time reportedly claimed the pair first met at the Mauna Lani hotel and shortly after Amaral was "spotted creeping out" of his $4,500-a-day villa. Amaral has reportedly taught hula across the world and is known as Hawaii's premier soloist, per a Departures magazine feature.
Silva was apparently made aware of her husband's alleged affair by someone who was working on the sets of 'Waterworld' and was later fired, per the Daily News report. The same article accused Costner of multiple affairs during his marriage. The actor vehemently denied the allegations at the time, saying he was simply interviewing Amaral for a job. He reportedly became furious during an interview where Amaral was brought up. "This woman has done nothing wrong and yet has had to share the harsh light of celebrity with me," Costner told the interviewer at the time. "I feel embarrassed, and I don't think there's one thing I can do to make her life better. This woman has a name and to make her a thing is the worst part of all. It's wrong for her and her husband," he added.
'The marriage was my own failure'
The 'Draft Day' star took responsiblity for his role in the breakdown of his marriage in a separate interview. "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 told the Baltimore Sun, without divulging any details. In a 1995 interview with Parade magazine, Costner insisted that he never even spoke to Amaral on the phone. The actor also listed off some other women he was romantically linked to including Playboy model Angie Everheart and the daughter of casino mogul 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," Costner admitted at the time, before expressing 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," he added.