Kevin Costner’s Fight With ‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Deepens As The Beloved Series Comes To An End

On Nov. 10, the final six episodes of the drama series Yellowstone are set to unfold.

Yellowstone, which premiered in 2018, follows the rancher John Dutton III (Kevin Costner) as he attempts to keep his family’s legacy alive in the rural mountains of Montana, frequently battling for land rights and political causes.

Ahead of the end of the fifth season, Costner’s role in the final episodes was much in question, and in June, Costner posted a video to Instagram in which he confirmed that he would not be returning for any new appearance in the last six episodes.

He said, “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 or into the future…I loved it and I know you loved it. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning.”

Costner wanted to pursue his independent project during the 2023 writer’s strike.

In June 2023, Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone‘s showrunner, shared with The Hollywood Reporter, “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” referring to Costner’s movie Horizon.

In May 2024, Costner claimed that he hadn’t prioritized Horizon over Yellowstone – filming for the movie was supposed to “fit into the gaps” while he worked on Yellowstone, but “They just kept moving the gaps.”

Costner said, “I was straight up with [Sheridan] and he said what we would do, and I believed him…and we didn’t get there.“

Horizon came out on June 28 but flopped at the box office.

Costner’s co-star Wes Bentley told The Post of Costner’s departure, “He’s such a big part of this show. I feel so lucky to have been able to work with him…and I learned a lot from him as an actor. But he’s also a storyteller, a director, and he’s also a really interesting guy who knows a lot about history. We had a lot of great talks. So I’m just grateful that I ever got to work with him.”

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