Yellowstone is set to end later this year, but it will be doing so without its figurehead. That's right Kevin Costner is not returning as John Dutton in the last few episodes of the season.
The actor officially announced that he was washing his hands of the series in an Instagram video. He said that he won't be involved in the final leg of the series.
"I just wanted to let you know that I won't be returning," Costner said in the video.
"I just 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 that's required," said Costner. "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 Five B or into the future."
Previously, Costner opened up about how betrayed he felt by Yellowstone producers. He said that he originally planned to do seven seasons. However, he said that the show kept moving its timescales in an interview with Deadline. He said, "Well, I haven't felt good about it the last year, what with the way they've talked about it. It wasn't truthful. So now I'm talking about a little bit about what the real truth of it was. I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven. In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we'll do six. They weren't able to make those. Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps."
Kevin Costner Makes Up His Mind
Costner felt betrayed that the media portrayed him as difficult to work with and no one stepped forward to defend him. He said that he took "a beating from those f*cking guys and I know a lot of times where it's coming from." He continued, "I just elected not to get into that. But if you know me well enough, I made Yellowstone the first priority, and to insinuate anything else would be wrong. I did not initiate any of those things. They did."
However, Costner said that he would consider going back to Yellowstone week later.
"If I like the story, where it was going, I would go back," he said. "I did everything that I was contracted to do with Yellowstone." However, he couldn't make it work with producers.
