Kevin Costner has broken his silence on rumors about a relationship with singer Jewel.
For months there has been speculation about the pair dating, which was fueled in December when TMZ reported Costner, 69, and Jewel, 50, "are now a thing." However, Costner laid those rumors to rest in an interview Tuesday with Howard Stern, who asked about the nature of their relationship.
"No, Jewel and I are friends; we've never gone out, ever," he said, according to People. "She's special, and I don't want, I don't want these rumors to ruin our friendship because that's what we have. She's special to me. She's beautiful enough to go out with."
Prompted to elaborate on what sparked the speculation, Costner recalled a particular weekend when he visited Richard Branson's Island, where Jewel was.
"I'm divorced all of a sudden. I'm a single father, and he's asked me for, you know, 10 years to come down there. I said, 'I guess I'll go down,'" Costner explained, referencing his split from Christine Baumgartner in May after 18 years of marriage. The actor found himself with Jewel, Emma Watson, and seven other people "who weren't celebrities."
"She was somebody I just had some tremendous conversations with, along with Emma," he said, responding to the report that "rumor was [he] went down on a private plane with her" and "went back on a private plane [with her]."
"I was on with nine people and, and I don't want the press to ruin this for us, because … 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 just has never happened for us," he added. "She's everything you might think, but it just hasn't happened."
Earlier this year, Jewel, who was previously married to rodeo champion Ty Murray, responded to the rumors in an interview with Elle magazine, saying Costner is "a great person." She did not elaborate, but said that "the public fascination is intense for sure."
This week’s interview with Stern comes on the heels of an interview Costner did with People during which he revealed a "very sweet conversation" with William, Prince of Wales.
Costner recalled nearly casting William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in the sequel to his blockbuster "The Bodyguard" from 1992. The film was scrapped after Diana was killed at age 36, in a 1997 car accident. Years later, Costner met William in England in a room where it was just the two of them.
"He walked up and we sat down and we shook hands, and the first line out of his mouth was he says, 'You know, my mom kind of fancied you,'" Costner shared.
"I'll never say what we talked about, but it was a very sweet thing," he added.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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