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Taylor Sheridan finally dishes on why ‘Yellowstone’ ended: ‘Kevin Costner was only supposed to….’

'Yellowstone' creator Taylor Sheridan opened up about Kevin Costner's exit from the fan-favorite show, revealing what had actually happened.

Taylor Sheridan's drama series 'Yellowstone' helped bring renewed attention to the Western genre on television. The series, which centered on the Dutton family in Montana, premiered in 2018. It was a massive hit and continued to pull in millions of viewers throughout its five-season run. Kevin Costner led the series as the family patriarch, John Dutton, the owner of the titular ranch. However, Costner abruptly left the series in the middle of Season 5, and his character was killed off-screen, to the dismay of fans. The remaining episodes of Season 5 were used to tie up loose ends and wrap up the storylines of other characters. Fans have long speculated that Costner’s exit contributed to the series ending differently than originally planned, despite its massive popularity.

Sheridan finally addressed these rumors during his appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast on June 28. The writer-director-producer revealed that Costner had initially signed on for just three seasons of neo-Western drama. "With Yellowstone, Kevin [Costner] was only supposed to be in the first three seasons. That was in his contract. And in my mind, that’s when his youngest son takes over, and then we watch him lose that ranch or not lose it, whatever the case is gonna be." Fans may remember that John Dutton was shot multiple times in the Season 3 finale, which aired in August 2020. His children, Beth and Kayce, were also seriously injured, with their fates left hanging in the balance. Reports from that time had mentioned that Costner’s contract had ended, and negotiations were ongoing to extend his contract for more seasons.

Sheridan added how the network wanted to capitalize on the show's success, "The network was so scared of not having Kevin be a part of it. Even though Kevin was ready to go—he had other things he wanted to do—he stayed on for another two seasons, and that was just because the show was such a behemoth and such a huge hit that the notion of giving up a hit before it had run out of juice to squeeze is very foreign to a network." However, their plans failed after the 71-year-old actor decided to leave the series to focus on his personal projects. "Finally, Kevin hit a point where he said, 'I gotta do my own thing.' But we originally conceived it together that it was three seasons, and then the baton is handed. … Because we had to tread water for a bit there, and I think it was pretty evident," Sheridan revealed. 

Costner played such a larger-than-life character in the series that his exit left a vacuum, making it difficult for the show to continue in his absence. Despite the show's ending, 'Yellowstone' characters like Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) became such household names that they headlined their own spin-off shows, 'Dutton Ranch' on Paramount+ and 'Marshals' on CBS.