“I’ll do what you want to do”: Taylor Sheridan Would’ve Never Been Okay With Kevin Costner Offering Yellowstone Writers a Grisly Option to Kick John Dutton Out of the Show

While the rumors surrounding Kevin Costner’s exit from Yellowstone have been a source of headache for Taylor Sheridan, both parties had relatively held their silence as a sign of respect toward the other. Paramount, on the other hand, had no problem dumping oil into the fire after twisting the subject of Costner’s exit to paint an unfavorable picture of the show’s lead star.

By the end of the business day, Kevin Costner had been branded a villain. Further speculation spread like wildfire after reports surfaced about the Yellowstone cast cutting off contact with the senior actor.

As such, when the clamoring had died down enough to make space for Costner’s voice, the actor made sure that fans knew the truth behind the controversy instead of the studio’s misinterpreted claims.

Kevin Costner Sets the Record Straight After Exit

After a highly publicized trial in the court of public opinion, Kevin Costner recused himself from the limelight to focus on filming his four-part Western saga. Meanwhile, the world raged on about his ‘selfish’ exit from Paramount’s Yellowstone despite the deteriorating quality of the series and its latter seasons.

To set the record straight, Costner resurfaced after a year and a half to rehash some of the claims made by the studio Paramount itself. The execs blamed the actor’s exit on his self-imposed ultimatum — that he was willing to work for only a week, which meant the studio had a week to film all his scenes for the last 8 episodes of the final season. Costner rephrased it to present his original version of the statement in a GQ cover profile interview—

At one point they said to me that we don’t have an ending or anything. I said, ‘Well, if you want to kill me, if you want to do something like that,’ I said, ‘I have a week before I start [filming Horizon.] I’ll do what you want to do.’

Understandably, Paramount refuted Costner’s account, regardless of the evidence to the contrary.

Marty Singer, the high-profile Hollywood lawyer who once fought for Sharon Stone’s honor after the actress was exploited on the sets of Basic Instinct, also blasted Paramount for twisting the actor’s words to suit their personal agenda:

“The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie. It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second.”

Amid all the chaos, Kevin Costner remained mum on the subject for over a year, ever since Deadline’s condemning report published on February 2023 until his own tell-all interview with the publication on May 2024.

Kevin Costner Gives Taylor Sheridan a Way Out

After being invested in the series for 6 years, Kevin Costner, Taylor Sheridan, and Paramount Network each have their own vision as far as Yellowstone’s ending is concerned. However, one thing is for sure — Sheridan doesn’t do “f**k-you car crashes.” The creator’s own exit from Sons of Anarchy taught him to have integrity toward his actors, no matter how small the role may be.

Considering Kevin Costner is the jewel in Yellowstone’s crown, it would go against Sheridan’s core principles to erase John Dutton with an off-screen death. However, Costner himself lent his helping hand in the situation, offering to be killed on-screen instead of being written off later.

With the studio’s unwarranted meddling and Kevin Costner leaving to film his passion project Horizon, his future in Yellowstone has been embroiled in uncertainty and confusion. If it were up to Taylor Sheridan, kicking the Dutton patriarch out would have never been an option. But after being actively absent from the writers’ room of the show, one can only be sure where the finale is headed after its delayed premiere.

Yellowstone 5B will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ in November 2024.