Kevin Costner is fine with Yellowstone killing off John Dutton in the ninth episode, of Season 5. While fans knew that Costner wouldn’t be returning to the final season, they didn’t expect the series to give such a goodbye to the character. Fans have expressed outrage on social media platforms over the Dutton family patriarch’s off-screen murder.
Costner had a falling out with creator Taylor Sheridan over the creative control of the series. The Dances with Wolves star announced his exit from the series in 2023 and went on to focus on his passion project, Horizon. Costner has now addressed how Yellowstone wrote off his character.
Kevin Costner Addresses John Dutton’s Yellowstone Fate
Spoiler Alert !!!
Spoilers for Yellowstone Season 5B Episode 1
Fans who saw Yellowstone Season 5B‘s premiere episode might’ve taken some time to process John Dutton’s fate. The all-powerful Dutton ranch owner seemingly took his life at the beginning of the episode, only to be revealed that he was murdered. His son Jamie Dutton’s new girlfriend Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) had sent mercenaries to kill him.
Taylor Sheridan appears to be direct in his approach to dealing with Kevin Costner‘s untimely exit, although fans have a hard time accepting it. Costner addressed Dutton’s fate during his appearance at the 2024 Governors Awards, sharing that he had suggested a couple of endings for his character to Sheridan.
While John Dutton’s death was one of them, Costner had little clue about the current manner of his death. Costner is not upset like fans about the character’s fate as he told E! News about fans reacting to the news, “Fans have a voice in things and they choose to follow stuff.”
About Dutton’s manner of death, Costner shared that the show did what it had to do. He shared, “They do what they want to do. That’s fine with me.” While Costner appears to be much calmer now, the fallout between Costner and the Yellowstone team was allegedly very ugly. Costner even threatened to go to court before he ended his contract with the series.
One of the major reasons for Costner giving up on Yellowstone was his passion project, Horizon. Costner was largely absent in the first part of Season 5 due to the filming of the Western.
Things didn’t turn out in Costner’s favor as the first part of the four-part Horizon failed miserably in theaters. Speaking about Horizon Part Two‘s theatrical release, Costner shared, “I’m gonna try to figure that out. I make these things, I will figure out how to get it to an audience.”
Kevin Costner Confirmed His Exit Earlier This Year On Social Media
Kevin Costner shared a video on Instagram where he shared about his work on his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga, and his status on Yellowstone. He revealed that he wouldn’t be a part of Season 5B or any of the future endeavors in Sheridan’s Western project. However, he was all humble about how the series impacted him.
He revealed that the series changed him and that it will always remain beloved to him. He shared with his fans that he loved the relationship the series created between them. Costner shared on his Instagram:
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. [The show] 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. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.
Sheridan told THR earlier that Costner and the network had arguments about when he could be done with Yellowstone. Sheridan claimed he had told Costner that they could “work a schedule” towards his exit. However, it eventually didn’t work out.
Yellowstone Season 5B airs on Paramount Network and CBS on Sundays. The episodes will be available for streaming on Peacock.
