Why It Took Kevin Costner So Long To Shut Down the Jewel Dating Rumors

One of the major stories to come out of Kevin Costner’s divorce from Christine Baumgartner was his reported romance with Jewel. The 69-year-old actor was spotted with the 50-year-old musician last December in Necker Island, looking rather cozy, and everyone assumed that a relationship was blossoming between them. Well, Costner is here to set the record straight about their friendship and why he took so long to break his silence about her.

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It was Howard Stern who got the scoop from Costner on the June 18 episode of The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM. “Jewel and I are friends,” Costner explained. “We’ve never gone out, ever. She’s fantastic, she’s special, and I don’t want these rumors to ruin our friendship because that’s what we have. She’s special… She’s everything you might think, but it just hasn’t happened.” The Field of Dreams star believes everyone got carried away with the gossip because he’s “ divorced all of a sudden ” and it was a good story to hook up two celebrities together.

Costner revealed that he enjoyed their “tremendous conversations” while also noting that Emma Watson was also third-wheeling during the time spent together. Let’s just say, everyone is in the friend zone. He didn’t bother to let everyone know that the dating rumors were way off base because he didn’t “want the press to ruin this for us.” He added, “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. She’s beautiful and smart enough for all those things — it just has never happened for us.” That’s some high praise from Costner, so maybe he’s leaving the door open slightly for a future romance.

Jewel spoke about Costner in May with a confusing message about him, but perhaps it was her way of shutting down the discussion about her love life. She declined to “answer questions about the actor,” but still dropped his name when she was discussing her recent art exhibit. “I found love, and I’m not talking about Kevin’s. I’m so happy, irrelevant of a man. It has nothing to do with being in a relationship or not being in one,” she said cryptically to People . Many fans assumed that the reported couple was taking things to the next level when in reality, they were just pals.

This isn’t the first dating rumor about Costner to hit the internet since his divorce. He was also paired up with Reese Witherspoon by New Idea last November. A source claimed, “Kevin’s had his eye on Reese ever since she won her Oscar, but he didn’t count on finding her absolutely charming as hell. They’ve been calling and texting on the pretense of finding the perfect script, but it’s becoming almost a daily occurrence.” Witherspoon’s representative was quick to debunk that dating myth, but the (very fake) gossip is proving that fans are ready to play matchmaker for Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor.

Before you go, click here to learn more about celebrities who’ve opened up about dating after divorce.