No, Kevin Costner Wasn’t a Jerk at Whitney Houston’s Funeral

By Mike Redmond | Celebrity | June 4, 2024 |

By Mike Redmond | Celebrity | June 4, 2024 |

Over at Entertainment Weekly a headline reads, “Kevin Costner refused to shorten his eulogy at Whitney Houston’s funeral: ‘They can get over that.’” Considering Costner has a legendary ego — he’s currently locked in a pissing match with the equally pompous Taylor Sheridan over the fate of Yellowstone — no one would fault you for thinking Houston’s family asked him to keep things short, only for him to tell a bunch of grieving mourners to suck it up. Kevin Costner talks however long Kevin Costner wants to talk. He was in Bull Durham!

That’s not what happened, though. If you actually click into the article, Costner told Dax Shepard that CNN made the request during Houston’s 2012 funeral, and that’s who Costner blew off. His swinging dick bravado was actually used for good that day.

“I had been working on this speech … and I tried to compile everything I wanted to do and finally crafted this speech,” Costner said. “Somebody said, ‘CNN’s here, they wouldn’t mind if your remarks were kept shorter because they’re going to have commercials.’ And I said, ‘They can get over that. They can play the commercial while I’m talking, I don’t care.’”

Costner would deliver a 17-minute speech, which doesn’t seem like an unreasonable amount of time. I have not attended many funerals, but I am in my 40s, so I imagine that will depressingly change soon. (Way to bring down the mood, Mike.)

But, look, I am not in the business of shading anyone for trying to mine clicks out here. I’m literally doing it right now! This industry is falling apart at an alarming speed, and it doesn’t help that AI is already bursting out of chests. I mean, let’s be real, EW’s headline got me to click because I wouldn’t be surprised if Costner told Whitney Houston’s grieving family that his words will not be denied by mere mortals. Would I have been just as compelled if the headline was about him telling off CNN? I dunno, maybe. That’s a pretty cool story, too, but is it as sexy as egomaniac rebuffs mourners? These are the thoughts that plague the clickmonger’s mind.

Anyway, Costner revealed that he wasn’t going to take the attention away from Whitney by attending her funeral until Dionne Warwick reached out.

“I could feel the weight on her, now it’s shifted to me,” Costner told Shepard. “What am I going to say about this little girl? [I] went back to that church in Newark and it was filled. It was electric. There were two bands playing, the church was alive. It was like, boom!”

So there you have it: Kevin Costner, not a dick this time. Remember this day.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)