Baldwin V. Costner

Actor and sometime musician Kevin Costner is in a New Orleans federal courtroom facing off against fellow actor Stephen Baldwin, who sued the Modern West frontman over an interest in an oil-cleaning device used by BP in its attempt to clean up its 2010 spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuit claims Costner and another business partner duped Baldwin and a friend out of their interest in the $18 million deal for BP to buy oil-separating centrifuges.

Baldwin and pal Spyridon Contogouris said they didn’t know about the deal when they agreed to sell their shares of Ocean Therapy Solutions. They say Costner kept them in the dark about the potential $52 million purchase and $18 million deposit.

For his part, Costner said he wasn’t aware Baldwin and Contogouris were even considering selling their interest in order to “walk away from OTS with almost $2 million in cash despite having invested no money in the company, and at a time when a contract with BP was uncertain to materialize,” according to court documents.

Costner and Baldwin are both expected to testify in the case, which is expected to last about two weeks.