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.

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.

Paramount released the first trailer for Yellowstone season 5, part 2, and although Kevin Costner is not in the episodes, he is still in the teaser.

“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:

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

“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)

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.

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.

On the other hand, it’s a bit of a surprise, especially, as noted above, Yellowstone season 5 was always intended to be the last season. But with the show being a ratings juggernaut and most of the cast still seemingly eager to keep at it, it’s understandable that Sheridan and Paramount would want their cash cow to continue. It’s not yet clear what Yellowstone season 6’s story will be, but considering the explosive season 5 hasn’t ended yet, Beth and Rip’s season 6 story will hinge upon what happens through the Yellowstone season 5 finale.