Kevin Costner and his wife, Christine Baumgartner, filed for divorce in May of this year and are due in court Wednesday for a case-management conference.
The couple, who share three children, had been married for 18 years before calling it quits.
Both Costner and Baumgartner filed for joint custody of their children as well.
Representing Costner in the proceedings is Laura Wasser, the go-to celebrity divorce attorney.
Laura Wasser is known as the “disso queen” in Hollywood for the number of celebrity divorces she handles. (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
She has worked with everyone from Britney Spears to Angelina Jolie and is known for her tough but fair and personable approach to her clientele.
In fact, Wasser does not always advise divorce as an option.
“If you are about to embark upon a divorce, and you are a celebrity, think twice,” she told DailyMail TV. “Do it in a really conscious way. Think about the lives you can affect. Think about the rest of your life and how you’re going to have to interact with this person.”
Her first major celebrity client was Stevie Wonder in 2001. She teamed up with Johnnie Cochran to represent the music icon in a $30 million palimony suit filed by a former live-in girlfriend. The case was ultimately decided through mediation.
Her father, Dennis, did say in a 2016 Bloomberg profile about his daughter, “I don’t think Stevie Wonder would make a move without talking to Laura.”
Stevie Wonder and Laura Wasser attend her 2013 book launch party. Wasser represented Wonder in a palimony case in 2001, kicking off her career as a celebrity attorney. (Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for Laura Wasser)
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In an interview with Vulture at the time, Wasser did not comment on if it was true, but did confirm she let director Noah Baumbach film in her offices. (Wasser also represented Baumbach’s ex, Jennifer Jason Leigh, during their divorce).
“Marriage Story” stars Scarlett Johansson, left, and Laura Dern, right, with director Noah Baumbach at the 2019 DGA Theater premiere in 2019. Dern’s character was reportedly based on Laura Wasser. (Rodin Eckenroth)
Here is a sample of Wasser’s client list:
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West also called Wasser out in the caption for a post that read, “I’m controlling my narrative. I’m raising my kids. Kris, Laura, Kim and Tracy [Romulus] parental alienation is a crime.”
During that time, Wasser spoke with Bustle about the issue.
“There’s no reason that you need to come out publicly and make statements about somebody when you’re going through what should be a pretty private thing. I mean, ‘Hi, Kanye West,’” Wasser said in 2022. “Forgetting my involvement with that, the whole world has watched (and thought) that’s probably not the best way to go about things, particularly as a parent.”
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline
Kevin Federline and Britney Spears married in 2004, and Laura Wasser initially represented Spears when they later divorced. (Photo by J.Sciulli/WireImage for Ogilvy Public Relations)
When Britney Spears married Kevin Federline, she was just 22 years old and worth $30 million dollars. According to Bloomberg, her team contacted Wasser about a prenuptial agreement before they married in 2004.
“A lot of times what will happen, particularly with young women, is they don’t want a prenup. They’re in love. This is fantasy time—‘We’re never going to get divorced, and I don’t want anybody, certainly not some old guy in a suit, telling me how it’s going to work out.’ So they bring me in. We have the conversation,” Wasser told the outlet in 2016.
“It was an ugly split-up,” Wasser said. “We got out of that case.”
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been embroiled in ongoing legal battles with each other ever since their divorce in 2016. In the beginning of the proceedings, Laura Wasser represented Jolie. (Getty Images)
Wasser has actually represented Angelina Jolie twice, first in dissolving her brief marriage to Billy Bob Thornton, and later in her marriage to Brad Pitt.
Jolie and Pitt’s custody still is not quite settled, and they are also mired in a continuing legal battle over the French winery they bought together.
Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock
Kelly Clarkson was ordered to pay her ex-husband millions of dollars after they reached a divorce settlement in 2021. Clarkson was represented by Laura Wasser. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Wasser saw Kelly Clarkson through her contentious divorce with her ex, Brandon Blackstock.
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Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
After divorcing in 2017, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have accused each other domestic abuse. Laura Wasser represented Depp during the divorce. (Getty Images)
Before his intense legal battle last year with ex Amber Heard, Johnny Depp hired Wasser to represent him in his divorce from the actress.
The couple wed in 2015, but called it quits just 15 months later. Heard cited irreconcilable differences and filed a temporary restraining order against Depp amid allegations of domestic abuse.
Actor Johnny Depp, foreground, watches a pre-recorded deposition testimony of Laura Wasser during Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, April 27, 2022. (JONATHAN ERNST/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star ultimately won the case and settled for $1 million, which Heard recently paid.