Kevin Costner finally reveals the truth behind his controversial Yellowstone exit

A-list star Kevin Costner has broken his silence surrounding the backlash about his exit from one of the world’s biggest shows.

US actor and director Kevin Costner speaks about his film Horizon: an American Saga onstage. Photo: Getty

Yellowstone star Kevin Costner has shared what he claims is the “real truth” behind the drama surrounding his exit from the smash hit series.

In a new interview with Deadline, the 69-year-old actor, who portrays John Dutton III in the series, says he “lived up” to his contract despite ongoing speculation to the contrary.

He also opened up about the series of events that led to the demise of his time on the series.

“There was no script,” Costner, who has yet to film the second half of season five (5B), revealed. “And then things imploded. You’ve been reading one version [of the show’s issues] for a year and a half.”

Multiple sources had previously claimed that Costner only wanted to work for one week to film the rest of the episodes. This would have proven incredibly difficult for production, considering Costner was the star of the show.

Costner claims constant delays sparked chaos in his schedule and hit back at claims about his work ethic.

Kevin Costner sparked controversy when he made the decision to quit Yellowstone. Photo: VALERIE MACON / AFP.

“I left my movie Horizon to be on time for them for 5B,” Costner said. “I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes. I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10. They didn’t have the scripts for anything else.”

He continued: “So, what you read in the end was that I said, ‘Well, look, I’m doing my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever else, I can give you a week.’ I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said, I’ll do that. And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week.”

“Do you think that’s who I am? I’ve never missed a day of work. I’ve never left before fulfilling my contractual obligations. A lot of times, I stay as much as I can.”

Costner, who has faced tough criticism from fans over the show’s future, went on to share that he had been left “bothered” by the show’s alleged lack of support following his decision to exit.

“They were silent and that bothered me in the world of how you do things,” he confessed. “Why don’t you stick up for me? I went and sold this thing for you. I was going to only do one season. I made it for three. I fulfilled three. So, I went from one to three, then I did a fourth one for them, and they wanted to do three more. So, I made the contract to do that.

Costner has confessed he was “bothered” about the “lack of support” he received from production. Photo: David Becker/Getty Images)

They imploded. I had a contract to do five, six and seven. I was contracted to do that. There’s nothing I could have done to get out of that, nor was I trying to just figure out how, when we started. [Production] didn’t have the scripts. And they wrote these other three shows,” he added, referencing the various Yellowstone spin-offs.

“They don’t ever talk about that. And all they did was remember we were releasing the series in June, then it moved to October. They covered by changing their release pattern. That time was about a 14-month period. I said, ‘I can’t ever go through that again, where you shut down for over a year and I don’t have something in line to do.’ All I did was protect myself, but I didn’t put myself in first position, over Yellowstone. I filled the gaps. Do you see that?”

Despite the ongoing drama, Costner – whose four-part post-Civil War drama Horizon premiered at the Cannes this month – added that he is still “open” to returning in the future if the situation proved possible.

Yellowstone season 5, part 2, will air on the Paramount Network in November 2024.

Originally published as Kevin Costner finally reveals the truth behind his controversial Yellowstone exit