Kevin Costner’s Ex-Agent Breaks Silence, Backs Him as Wes Bentley Feud Boils Over
After a reported showdown with Wes Bentley on a Utah soundstage that insiders say became a Yellowstone tipping point, Kevin Costner’s history of feuds, walkouts, and lawsuits is back in the spotlight — and former agent Rick Nicita is pushing back.
If you have been watching the latest round of Kevin Costner headlines and thinking, here we go again, you are not alone. The reported dust-up with Wes Bentley on a Utah soundstage during Yellowstone was apparently a tipping point for his run on the show. That tracks with Costner’s broader career story: big movies, big wins, and every so often, big fights. Now his longtime former agent is pushing back on the idea that Costner is simply a nightmare to work with.
Costner vs. the narrative
Costner has a reputation for clashing with bold-faced names. We are talking Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell-level creative battles. Even close collaborators have ended up on the wrong side of him. Producer Jim Wilson, a longtime friend, had things get so heated it wound up in court. So, yeah, not exactly a friction-free resume.
The agent who says that is not the whole story
Rick Nicita, who repped Costner at CAA from 2002 until he retired in 2008, told The Hollywood Reporter that the word 'difficult' gets thrown around too easily with Costner. In Nicita’s view, the guy is not a tantrum-in-a-trailer type or someone who shows up unprepared. He is stubborn, sure, but it comes from certainty, not chaos.
'He wanted what he wanted and knew what he wanted... he was never a great compromiser. It is confidence that, to some, can play as arrogance.'
Nicita says nothing about the recent turbulence surprises him. Costner has always had that will-it-into-existence energy. The difference now, as Nicita puts it, is the landscape has changed. The fastball is the same; the strike zone shrank. He is not writing Costner off, not by a long shot.
How Costner actually operates
By most accounts, Costner is more reserved than his peers and keeps a tight inner circle. Businessman Rod Lake, who is often in the trenches on movie productions, works closely with him. Howard Kaplan, a former Price Waterhouse accountant, is effectively his consigliere. After Nicita exited the agency world in 2008, Costner moved to WME, where he is represented now. Nicita says they have stayed in touch over the years.
- Representation timeline: CAA via Rick Nicita (2002–2008), then WME to present.
- Inner circle: Rod Lake (production partner) and Howard Kaplan (former Price Waterhouse accountant, trusted adviser).
- Notable fallouts: creative clashes with Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell; friendship-turned-feud with Jim Wilson that escalated into a courtroom fight.
- Recent flashpoint: a reported on-set confrontation with Wes Bentley in Utah during Yellowstone that may have accelerated his exit trajectory.
The take
There is a version of Costner that is polarizing, and there is a version that is simply exacting. Both can be true. He is not the easiest hang when he thinks the work is drifting off course. He also remains, even after feuds and walkouts and headlines, one of the industry’s biggest stars. If you are waiting for the final act where he fades out quietly, that is not the movie he thinks he is in.