It was previously reported that the Hollywood star Kevin Costner and the singer Jewel could be dating after they were spotted getting cozy with one another in the U.S. Virgin Islands at the end of last year. Now, Costner has finally broken his silence to address these rumors.
But first, check out one of the photos that started these dating rumors below. In the image, Jewel appears to be sitting on Costner’s lap during a charity event.
Costner Addresses Jewel Dating Rumors
During Tuesday’s episode of The Howard Stern Show, host Howard Stern asked Costner directly if he’s dating Jewel.
“No, Jewel and I are friends. We’ve never gone out ever,” replied Costner, 69.
“She’s special, and I don’t want – I don’t want these rumors to ruin our friendship because that’s what we have,” he added, going on to say that Jewel is “special to me. She’s beautiful enough to go out with.”
Costner spent much of last year undergoing a public and difficult divorce from his wife of 18 years Christine Baumgartner. She allegedly “blindsided” him when she filed for divorce in May of 2023. Their divorce wasn’t finalized until February of this year.
Meanwhile, Jewel, 50, hasn’t married again since she divorced her first husband Ty Murray back in 2014.
Backstory: Are Kevin Costner And Singer Jewel Now Dating?
Costner Reveals How Jewel Rumors Started
When asked how the rumors about himself and Jewel dating got started, Costner replied, “We were down at Branson’s Island. She has a foundation, which I didn’t know, and she was part of the foundation.”
“And Richard Branson had been asking me for years to come down to Necker Island, and so I finally did,” he continued. “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, ‘Well, I guess I’ll go down.'”
At the charity event at Branson Island, Costner joined Jewel and eight other guests, one of them being the Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, 34. Costner went on to say that Jewel “was somebody I just had some tremendous conversations with, and along with Emma.”
Though Costner is not currently dating Jewel, he appears to not be closing the door on a potential relationship with her in the future.
“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,” he explained. “We don’t have a romance, and we’ve not dated.”
Costner was noticeably quick to gush over Jewel, however.
“She’s beautiful and smart enough for all those things,” Costner concluded. “It just has never happened for us… She’s everything you might think, but it just hasn’t happened.”
Check out Costner’s full comments on this in the video below.
Jewel Addresses Costner Rumors
As for Jewel, she’s stayed relatively quiet about these rumors regarding her and Costner potentially dating. Back in April, she told Elle that Costner is a “great person.”
“[But] the public fascination is intense for sure,” she made sure to add.
Last month, Jewel addressed the rumors once again in another interview.
“I found love, and I’m not talking about Kevin’s. I’m so happy, irrelevant of a man,” she told People Magazine. “It has nothing to do with being in a relationship or not being in one. I’m just happy. I’m good.”
Related: Jewel Offers Powerful Advice For Getting Over Heartbreak
Costner And Jewel Allegedly ‘Were Flirty’
Despite what Costner and Jewel are saying now, sources who were at the event where they got cozy in the U.S. Virgin Islands told a different story.
“There was definitely something going on,” one source told TMZ at the time. “They were flirty, and when they were together, it was like they both just lit up.”
“You could tell they were trying to be discreet, but anybody who saw them could tell something was going on,” the insider added.
Costner and Jewel are two of the most famous people in the world. While they could be telling the truth that they aren’t dating, it would also not be surprising if they wanted to keep things private in the early days of any potential relationship.
Only time will tell if Costner and Jewel ever do actually end up together!
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