On Monday, actors Kevin Costner and Stephen Baldwin faced each other in a trial over Baldwin’s claims that Costner cheated him from his share of a multi-million –dollar deal. The alleged deal was one to sell oil extractors to British Petroleum in 2010. Jury selection for the federal lawsuit has begun in a New Orleans court. Baldwin and his business partner, Spyridon C. Contogouris are incensed over Costners oily ways.
The lawsuit alleges that Kevin Costner, the hero of “The Bodyguard” and other films like “Field of Dreams,” did not pay the share of a deal belonging to Baldwin when British Petroleum bought 32 oil-and-water-separation devices developed by a company owned by Costner.
The deal was struck after the Macondo oil spill in April 2010, when the Macondo well blew up sending more than 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill, yet the biggest accidental oil spill in history had British Petroleum overstressed to bring the situation under control.
According to the lawsuit, Baldwin and Contogouris owned shares in a company set up to market Costner’s extraction devices, and they were kept in the blind about the BP deal by Costner until they agreed to sell their shares in the company. Baldwin claims that he and his partner were duped out of a portion of a $18 million deposit made by BP.
The actors are expected to make appearances in person every day, now that trial has begun and the jury is ready to decide who’s the better actor.