Kevin Costner is aware of the romance rumors surrounding him and Jewel — and he’s ready to set the record straight.
“Jewel and I are friends — we’ve never gone out,” Costner, 69, shared during the Tuesday, June 18, episode of The Howard Stern Show, noting that he’s worried the speculation might cost the pair their close bond. “She’s special, and I don’t want these rumors to ruin our friendship because that’s what we have.”
The actor, who stars in the upcoming film Horizon: An American Saga, clarified his true relationship with Jewel, 50, telling Howard Stern that they have “never gone out, ever.” The actor did, however, call the “Who Will Save Your Soul” singer “special” and “beautiful enough to go out with.”
Costner also detailed how he met Jewel in December 2023, when the pair were part of a group of nine people, including Emma Watson, who visited Necker Island, a private island owned by Richard Branson in the British Virgin Islands.
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“We were down at Branson’s Island, she has a foundation, which I didn’t know … and Richard Branson had been asking me for years to come down to Necker Island and so I finally did,” Costner said. “I’m divorced all of a sudden, I’m a single father, and he’s asked me for ten years to come down there.”
In photos published by TMZ at the time, Costner was seen on the island with his arms wrapped around the Jewel’s waist as she held a microphone while seemingly addressing a crowd.
The pair also posed together in a group photo, wearing matching all-white ensembles.
Costner revealed in the radio show that he had “some tremendous conversations” with Jewel and Watson, 34, however romantic sparks never flew between anybody.
Costner told Stern that while their relationship isn’t romantic, he has grown very fond of Jewel. “I’ve had conversations with her, text-wise, and she’s so smart and she’s been through a lot herself and so we have a friendship, we don’t have a romance and we’ve not dated,” Costner said. “She’s beautiful and smart enough for all those things, it’s just never happened for us. She’s everything you might think.”
The actor added that the rumors were so widely spread that even his children have wondered when he would be introducing them to Jewel.
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“I have to explain to my kids, no,” Costner said and laughingly recalled one of his daughters asking him, “Well, where is she?”
Jewel broke her silence on the rumors in April when she told Elle that Costner is “a great person” and that the public fascination into their relationship “is intense for sure.”
Costner and his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner, whom he wed in 2004, finalized their divorce in September 2023 after a messy four-month legal battle. The pair share three children together, Hayes, 15, Cayden, 17, and Grace, 14.
Costner is also father to Annie, 40, Lily, 37, and Joe, 36, whom he shares with his ex-wife Cindy Silva, as well as son Liam, 26, whom he shares with his ex Bridget Rooney.
