Earlier, Devyn LaBella, who served as a stunt performer for actor-director Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2, alleged that the film's maker forced her to perform an unscripted rape scene with neither adequate safety protocols nor her consent. In her lawsuit, LaBella, who served as a double for Ella Hunt's character, Juliette, said that Costner improvised a scene showing the character's rape after Hunt refused to perform it. Now, Costner has responded to the allegations in his motion to overthrow the lawsuit against him. In his court declaration, the actor-filmmaker said that the purpose of the lawsuit is to tarnish both his reputation and Horizon films with an eye on getting "a massive and unjustified payday".

Further, Costner stated, "Equally as bad, having to read about and address allegations I know to be false involving the words ‘rape’ and ‘assault’ has been an absolute nightmare.”

This May, the Horizon 2 stunt performer litigated the actor-filmmaker for not just sexual harassment but also making her work environment hostile. At the time, she alleged that the makers performed the scene with no intimacy coordinator present on an open set. Subsequently, the coordinator documented failures in following the protocols at the time of filming, pertaining to the use of an unclosed set as well as planning and communication. Costner responded by arguing that no "rape scene" was filmed and that there was not any simulated sex or nudity in it. “This was one artistic shot designed to imply what was going to happen off-screen, and purposely was not a ‘simulated rape’ as Devyn now falsely describes it,” Costner said.

The actor-filmmaker and his organisation are looking to get rid of the lawsuit according to the anti-SLAPP law in California, which is created to safeguard freedom of speech in issues that are of considerable interest to the general public.