Yellowstone fans were outraged after the brutal fate of Kevin Costner’s beloved lead

character John Dutton was revealed on Sunday in the first few minutes of the season five

part two premiere

The show wasted no time by revealing in the opening moments of the Season 5 Part 2 premiere with the death of Dutton, seemingly by suicide.

Many fans thought that this beloved character committing suicide was completely out of character, though they would come to learn that it was actually a murder simply set up to look like a suicide, which comes after many actors revealing they were kept in the dark about the exit of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton.
Costner made a dramatic exit from the series over scheduling conflicts with his Western movie franchise Horizon, though fans were quite upset at how he was killed off.

Fans took to social media to react en masse to the beloved character’s exit as the neo-Western series comes to a close.

Given how hard John Dutton has fought for everything in his life, fans were furious, insisting he would never have killed himself.

@Thecraftyturtle said, ‘Ok no way John Dutton killed himself. They did his character dirty!!’

@KayCee1771 said, ‘Not the way i expected #Yellowstone to start,’ as @AmberLee_0123 said, ‘It hasn’t been 5 minutes of #Yellowstone and I AM NOT OKAY.’

@FolkToe said ‘#Yellowstone Run Jamie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ insinuating Dutton’s son Jamie (Wes Bentley) was involved.

It’s not too surprising that Jamie may be blamed, since the show’s last episode nearly two years ago showed Jamie entertaining various ways to have his father killed with his new romantic interest Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri).

She told Jamie there were companies that specialized in making murders look like accidents or even a heart attack.

However, as the episode continued, it became more clear that Sarah seemingly took matters into her own hands and organized John’s death to simply make it look like a suicide… covering up his actual murder.

@thetvescape said, ‘Wait, so now it’s looking more and more likely that the “suicide” was staged!’

@BroGod4Life said, ‘They don’t believe John Dutton attempt suicide they believe either Sarah, Jamie or somebody had anything to do what happened to him if they have proof and it’s going to take time.’

After fans saw Sarah ultimately confirming her involvement in Governor Dutton’s death, she surprised Jamie at his home, scantily clad with champagne glasses.

She was surprised that he was shedding tears over his father, adding she thought this is what he wanted.

‘Who are these tears for?’ Sarah asked, as Jamie insisted that his father and his political career both died that day.

@thetvescape added ‘Anyone else looking forward to the moment Beth eventually beats Sarah’s a**? Same.’

@heidi_obscura added ‘So Sarah did it. Her and her bad wig,’ while @its1stclassCAM said, ‘#YELLOWSTONE: so sarah put a fucking hit on john and had it staged to look like a suicide.’

The way that the show killed off this beloved character had fans furious like @jdh_85, who said, ‘I can’t believe the way they took John Dutton out. Buckle up. It will be a wild ride now.’

@AATHobby added, ‘@Yellowstone did a terrible job writing out #kevincostner. Secret meeting and boom suddenly everyone knows he is dead, terrible. Hopefully they did better with the rest of the storyline.’

@XavierJ5284 insisted, ‘Yeah I think this season of #Yellowstone is going to be trash.’

@MidwestRicky added, ‘#Yellowstone fumbled big time. Ruined a great show. Can’t kill off John Dutton.’

@TheBOLGuy added, ‘They really unalived my guy in #yellowstone ⁉️⁉️ I’m pissed.’

@thetvescape also pointed out, ‘Jamie had a hand in the deaths of BOTH of his fathers.’

It was previously revealed that John Dutton had actually adopted Jamie, as he tracked down his real father Garrett Randall (Will Patton).

As he was planning to run for governor, after learning that Garrett put out the hit on the whole Dutton family, Jamie killed his biological father himself.

News first started to spread about Costner potentially leaving the show in 2023, amid rumors of a rift between the actor and series creator Taylor Sheridan.

Costner’s attorney Marty Singer denied rumors that Costner refused to film on the show for more than just one week in Season 5 Part 2.

‘The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of Season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie,’ Singer said last summer.

‘It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second,’ he added.

The filming conflicted with Costner’s plans to direct his first movie in 20 years – Horizon – the first in a planned four-part Western movie series.

Costner ultimately confirmed in June 2024 that he would not appear at all in Season 5 Part 2, in a video he posted to Instagram.

‘I want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love, that I know you love, I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,’ Costner said.

‘It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning and I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop and I’ll see you at the movies,’ he added.

Some fans thought the abrupt death of Dutton was a final ‘F U’ from series creator Taylor Sheridan to Costner after their rumored spat.

@LJB1308 thought the episode was, ‘Like a big F U to Costner from Sheridan,’ in regards to their differences.

@cmadmax said, ‘I think it was a big F U from Kostner to Sheridan when he told the public he was done with #Yellowstone. Big disappointment, 2 huge egos.’

@lumanicious said, ‘Costner: I won’t be back for this season bc I’m gonna go film a movie series that’ll bomb. Taylor Sheridan: Bet, we’re killin’ you in the first seven minutes.’

@SimplyTasha08 said, ‘I don’t care how it’s ends now because this is some absolute bullshit!!! The fans of this show & Kevin Costner (John Dutton) deserved way better! Taylor Sheridan I don’t know if I’ll support another of your shows!!! #Yellowstone and ratings will suffer! The laziest writing.’

The news of a sixth season following Beth and Rip have come as a surprise to some fans.

The on-screen couple were reportedly in talks of joining the Yellowstone spinoff The Madison, starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

In April, when asked about the possibility of a sixth season, Reilly told RadioTimes: ‘I just care about finishing [Yellowstone] with as much care and as much passion and as much love as I can muster to put into it… I’m sort of prepping for that now, [and] that’s my tunnel-vision thing that I care about most.’

‘And what goes on beyond that? There are discussions, you know. Don’t believe everything you read. It’s just nonsense,’ she continued.

Paramount Network also ordered another spin-off entitled 1944, which will follow the prequel shows 1883 and 1923, following earlier generations of the Dutton clan.