Christine Baumgartner was clearly prepared when she filed for divorce from Kevin Costner. This was not done on a whim – she had spent 24 years with Costner, and 19 years as his wife. She planned it out, hiring a divorce lawyer and a forensic accountant, and she and her lawyer clearly have a plan to revoke or nullify the prenup she signed. But even though Christine was prepared, she still hadn’t told her three minor children about the divorce before she filed. She is now telling the court that Costner broke the news to their kids over Zoom, even though she asked him to come home so they could talk to their kids in person together.

Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine isn’t happy with how their three kids learned of their split. In a court filing obtained by PEOPLE, Christine, 49, says Yellowstone star Kevin, 68, told their kids Grace, 13, Hayes, 14, and Cayden, 16, about their divorce in a brief Zoom call while he was filming on location in Las Vegas.

“The children’s welfare has always been my highest priority, and I was concerned they would find out about the divorce before Kevin and I could tell them. It was important for me that we tell the children in person and together,” Christine alleges in the documents.

Christine says she expressed her concerns with Kevin that the kids would hear the news through an “outside source,” shared “several articles about the importance of talking to the children as a united front” and believed they would go about it together.

“He disregarded my proposal to do what I felt was right based on research and my relationship with the children. Instead, he insisted that he had the right to tell them that we were getting divorced ‘first’ and tell them privately ‘without me present,'” she continues in her claims. “After a 24-year relationship, from his hotel room in Las Vegas, Kevin told our three children that we were getting divorced over a 10-minute Zoom call without me present. I am still confused by his motivation to do this via a very short Zoom session, especially since he was planning on being home five days later. He also could have easily come home from Las Vegas to have the conversation in person.”

A source close to the actor notes that Christine filed for divorce while Kevin was filming on location. “He FaceTimes all the time with the kids when he is away working,” says the source.

[From People]

Okay, I understand why she didn’t tell the kids solo – because she was genuinely hoping that she and Kevin could do it together, and again, she was prepared and did her research. Costner decided to disregard her request and (I would assume) make everything sound like Christine’s fault when he spoke to their kids. Nevermind the fact that Christine has truly been the primary caregiver and stay-at-home parent to those kids all of their lives. Nevermind the fact that Costner is, at best, a habitually absent parent whose idea of spending time with his children is Zooming with them for ten minutes from one of his location shoots. Kevin Costner is such a jerk, my god.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.