Like most Hollywood dramas, the finale was settled in a courtroom as actor Stephen Baldwin lost a $17m lawsuit against Kevin Costner over the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The lawsuit brought by Baldwin and business partner Spyridon Contogouris, claimed that fellow actor Costner had swindled him out of millions over a contract to sell cleaning devices to BP after the disaster.

Baldwin believed that Costner had hidden details of a deal with BP when they sold their stake in the company marketing the cleaning devices, Ocean Therapy Solutions, just before the oil company made an $18m investment.

Instead they sold their shares for just under $2m, and claimed $17m in damages from what they felt represented the value of the shares they would have held. Lawyers representing Costner argued that the claimants were aware that it was due to go ahead but chose not to gamble that BP would sign a contract binding them to the company.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was the worst offshore oil spill in US history. The cleaning devices brought from Ocean Therapy Solutions were never used by BP as they had managed to seal the well before they could be delivered.

Written by Alfred Joyner