People are mad at me for supporting Christine Baumgartner in her divorce drama with Kevin Costner! I get it, Christine comes across as somewhat ridiculous in much of the coverage. But I am on her side – it’s clear that Costner was financially abusing her for years, all to keep her entirely dependent on him. Now that she’s broken free, he’s doing what all abusers do: punishing her, humiliating her and nickel-and-diming her. You also have to remember that part of the reason why Christine looks ridiculous in the coverage is because Costner has a world-class PR team and crisis management team, because he learned from what happened during his first divorce. In any case, Christine and Kevin were in court last week for a child support hearing. Christine wanted the court to order Costner to pay roughly $168K a month in child support. He countered with an offer of $60K a month and he told Christine to get a job. The judge agreed with him. Christine is getting hosed by this judge, ISTG.

Kevin Costner just found out how big of a check he has to cut to his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner each month for child support … and he’s going to be happy. The judge in Kevin and Christine’s divorce ruled Friday that Kevin’s going to be forking over $63,209 — that’s exactly what he said was appropriate. $63k is less than half of what she was getting in temporary support — $129k. And remember, she originally asked for $248k a month.

During Friday’s hearing, Kevin took the stand and answered some questions from his lawyer, Disso Queen Laura Wasser, saying … “Somehow in this unusual world we didn’t make it and I’m sorry.” Kevin said his biggest concern going into the relationship with Christine was having kids and getting divorced … because he had 3 kids with his first wife and got divorced. Kevin and Christine ended up having 3 kids and getting divorced too.

Remember … Christine originally asked for $248,000 a month in child support, but Kevin claimed she was padding the bill simply because he could afford it … with Costner claiming the actual amount she needs for their kids is around $51k a month. In the end, the judge went closer to Kevin’s figure.

The actor’s testimony also featured Kevin saying he wanted to pass his properties down to his kids and he said, “I don’t hide money from my wife.”

[From TMZ]

“I don’t hide money from my wife.” I mean… maybe “hide” isn’t the right word, but Christine definitely didn’t have money for anything beyond the household needs and children’s needs. He was mad at her for buying a car before she filed for divorce, that’s how much he was controlling her financially. He’s mad that one of their friends let her borrow money, that’s how much he was controlling her financially. Anyway, I can guarantee that Christine isn’t going to get the prenup nullified either. So she’s going to have to “make do” with the $1 million she got from the prenup, plus the $63K a month in child support and that’s it. Ten bucks says this judge will tell her that she has to pay for her lawyers and Kevin’s lawyers too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.