now well-known that Kevin Costner will not be rejoining the Yellowstone season 5 cast. Costner’s protagonist John Dutton has been the glue that’s held Yellowstone together, with the

entire show revolving around him. Dutton is the patriarch of the Dutton Family, a ranching dynasty that owns the largest ranch in Montana. Yellowstone‘s story follows the Dutton family

trying to balance familial drama and maintain their traditional way of life while the realities of the modern era threaten to take away all they’ve built.

Through it all, Kevin Costner has been at the center Yellowstone, helping the show to become the ratings juggernaut it is. For two years straight, it’s been the most-watched cable series, not just for Paramount Network, but across all cable channels. The Yellowstone season 5 premiere, which dropped in November 2022, was the most-watched single episode and TV show for the entire year with almost 16 million viewers tuning in. It can be hard to understand how an actor of Costner’s level could walk away from such a hit, but Yellowstone season 5, part 2 got messy behind the scenes.

Kevin Costner’s Decision To Quit Yellowstone Is Due To Several Factors

Creative Differences, Scheduling Conflicts, & Pay Dispute Are All Reasons For Costner’s Departure

Instead of any one, overarching issue, it’s been reported that several factors fed into Costner’s decision to exit the show. The first is that shooting Yellowstone takes quite a lot of time to shoot, with the shooting schedule for each season generally running from April through October. Depending on where in the month the shoot starts and ends, the cast and crew were looking at a minimum of five months all the way to seven months out of the year spent filming.

That lengthy shooting schedule held Kevin Costner back from being able to work on his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga. The second half of Yellowstone season 5’s shoot got delayed for a few reasons, the 2023 writer’s strike being the main one; production for the second part of season 5 shut down in May 2023. However, even after the strike ended in September 2023, the shoot was still delayed as shooting in Montana during the winter was a no-go. So production didn’t resume for almost a full year in April 2024. That delay led to a conflict over shooting schedules, with Costner wanting to shoot Horizon: An American Saga, but Yellowstone season 5, part 2 still needing to be shot. Reportedly, Costner only wanted to shoot one week on part 2, but that was later denied by Costner’s reps.

However, it wasn’t just scheduling that led to Costner’s Yellowstone departure. A reported pay dispute also factored in, with Costner set to make $12 million for the second part but contract negotiations turning sour. With the prolonged pay negotiations, Costner’s unhappiness with the creative direction, Sheridan’s frustration over Costner’s divided attention between Yellowstone and Horizon, and Yellowstone being held up waiting on Costner, the actor made the decision to exit the series.

What Kevin Costner Has Directly Said About Leaving Yellowstone

He’s Hurt Most Reports Have Put The Blame On Him

Interestingly enough, some of the backstory came out during a child support payment court hearing with Kevin Costner’s ex-wife Christine Baumgartner. While on the stand, Costner touched upon some of the reasons for leaving Yellowstone, citing the scheduling conflicts, creative differences, and pay. He explained he hated the idea of splitting Yellowstone season 5 into two parts, both creatively, and because of his personal schedule.

“I couldn’t help them anymore,” he said. “We tried to negotiate, they offered me less money than previous seasons, there were issues with the creative…” Finally, he got fed up and told his reps “have them pay me whatever number, we came up with a number, and they [Yellowstone] walked away.” When asked if he’d get a payout for the second half of the season, he replied

“I will probably go to court over it.” (via People) He then confirmed he thought the number was about $12 million.

Costner also revealed that he was a little hurt about the rumors swirling that put the onus of blame squarely on him:

“I loved the show. I liked the people on the show. I liked what it was about. I love that world… There was a moment where that show for me stopped for 14 months. That’s the fact. I could have done a lot of things in that time, but I wasn’t aware that that [hold-up] was going to happen… I read all the stories. I was disappointed that nobody on their side … ever stepped up to defend what it was I actually did for them. There came a moment where I thought, ‘Wow, when is somebody going to say something about what I have done versus what I haven’t done?” (via People )

However, Costner seems to hold no ill will toward Taylor Sheridan, stating that he loved Sheridan’s work and that working together again in the future on a different project wouldn’t be out of the question. He’s also expressed his appreciation for Yellowstone fans multiple times since the confirmation of his exit, stressing that it’s a great fanbase and he’s deeply grateful to the viewers who watched him play John Dutton for five seasons.

What Taylor Sheridan Has Said About Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Exit

The Yellowstone Creator Has Been Carefully Diplomatic In Addressing The Departure

According to Vulture, one of the conditional requests Costner made to return for Yellowstone season 5, part 2 as John Dutton was that he get final veto or approval on all episode scripts, which Taylor Sheridan, who is known for writing solo, was not exactly keen on. For his part, though, Sheridan hasn’t had anything negative to say about Costner or his decision to exit, aside from expressing his general feelings of disappointment about how it all ended. ​​​​​​​

“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” Sheridan said. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone.” Still, he admitted that things did get tense and messy behind the scenes, allowing that it took an ugly turn (via THR):

“Once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. [ Horizon ] seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.” ​​​​​​​

Sheridan is understandably disappointed about how it all turned out. “I’m disappointed,” he admitted. “It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.“

How Is Yellowstone Season 5 Writing Out Kevin Costner’s John Dutton?

He Will Almost Certainly Be Killed Off (Hopefully Respectfully)

As of right now, we don’t yet know exactly how the second part of Yellowstone season 5 will write out John Dutton. Kevin Costner’s character was in the first part of the season, but a new teaser trailer for Yellowstone season 5, part 2 was recently released, and things don’t look good for John. Considering the trailer’s dark tone and especially the ominous line of dialogue of John Dutton agreeing with his son that he’s not sure how much longer they’ll get to keep doing this, the foreshadowing is pointing to John Dutton being killed off.

Right now, the easiest and cleanest solution to handle John no longer being part of the show would be his death. However, in some ways, that would also be the most disappointing, especially as it would have to happen off-screen. It would be a disservice to Kevin Costner and the towering figure of John Dutton for that death to happen in such an offhanded way; both deserve to be treated as more than an afterthought or a pesky plot thread that needs to be tied off. It doesn’t appear that will be the case, though, according to Sheridan himself.

“I was killed in a f—-you car crash!” he laughed to THR, referring to how his character, David Hale, was casually killed off in Sons of Anarchy. “I don’t do f—-you car crashes. Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.” Considering the messiness of Costner’s exit, Sheridan’s all-but-confirmation that he’ll kill off Costner’s character, and that foreboding teaser, a long life does not seem to be in the cards for the Dutton patriarch.

How Yellowstone Is Continuing Without Kevin Costner

Yellowstone Season 6 Has Recently Been Confirmed

Interestingly, new reports have indicated that Yellowstone will not bow after season 5, as has been the plan for a few years now. It had been rumored for a while this could be the case, but now it’s officially confirmed. Instead, Yellowstone season 6 is reportedly happening, with the sixth season essentially acting as a soft reboot of the show as it goes in a new direction. Reportedly, Yellowstone season 6 will focus on Kelly Reilly’s Beth and Cole Hauser’s Rip, who will take over from Costner’s John Dutton as the focal point of the TV show moving forward. This makes sense, as Kelly and Rip are the two strongest characters and the most readily poised to take over the narrative.