Kevin Costner and fellow actor Stephen Baldwin were in court on Monday to start a legal battle. The drama was a real-life court battle between the two actors. Jury selection started in the case where Baldwin alleges that Costner duped him out of multi-million dollar business deal to in 2010 of selling oil extractors to the oil conglomerate British Petroleum.
The trial is taking place in New Orleans where jury selection is scheduled for this week in a federal courtroom. Baldwin and Sryridon Contogouris, his business partner have filed suit against Costner. The suit claims Costner cheated Contogouris and Baldwin out of their stake of the business deal worth millions. BP purchased 32 water and oil separation devices that had been developed by a company owned by Costner.
The deal alleged in the suit was made following the blow out of the Macondo well in April of 2010 that spewed over 4 million barrels of oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The spill was the largest oil spill of an accidental nature in history.
Since they were not notified, the two charged they had been duped out of their share of the $18 million that BP deposited into the company’s account for the purchase of the 32 devices.
It is expected that both Baldwin and Costner will be in court each day for the trial.
