‘Yellowstone’ Ending After Current Fifth Season Amidst Drama Between Kevin Costner And Creator Taylor Sheridan, Sources Allege

Sources are speaking out this week to claim that the hit show “Yellowstone” is set to come to an end after the second half of season five airs amidst disputes between star Kevin Costner and creator Taylor Sheridan.

‘There’s Friction’

Multiple sources told The New York Post that the show will end after this season, adding that it is not known at this time when the rest of season five will even air. Rumors have swirled over the past few weeks that Costner won’t be returning at all due to tension between himself and Sheridan.

“It’s the same as with any showrunner and big star — there’s respect, but there’s friction,” a well-placed production source alleged.

Another highly-placed Hollywood source stated that while there is ego at play here, it might not necessarily be Costner’s.

“Taylor is the star of his show,” this insider explained. “He’s the most important person on all of his shows.”

“Taylor spent years not being truly appreciated in Hollywood, and now that he’s the top of the heap, there’s definitely some ego to all of this,” the Hollywood source continued.

Related: Kevin Costner Reveals Sad Reason He Had To Miss Golden Globes

‘Yellowstone’ Extremely Popular

A whopping 12.1 million people watched the season five premiere of “Yellowstone” back in November, and the first half of the season came to an end in January. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the second half of the season ever since, but production has yet to be slated, and a writer’s strike in Hollywood is ominously looming.

“We’re hoping it will be worked out. It’s too big a show for things not to be worked out,” said the production source. “Hopefully Kevin will return for the remaining episodes if everyone works together, but it looks like ‘Yellowstone’ will end after this season.”

Another source close to Sheridan indicated that he may be keeping his own stars in the dark, saying, “Only Taylor truly knows what is going on.”

It was claimed earlier this year that Costner only wanted to spend one week shooting the second half of season five, but he denied this through his attorney, who said this was “an absolute lie.” The Hollywood source agreed that Costner was ready to shoot at the end of last year and in January, but Sheridan had no scripts ready.

“Kevin’s been extremely cooperative with working with Taylor and his production company, 101 Studios,” said the Hollywood source. “They were supposed to shoot the second chapter of Season 5 late last year, but they just didn’t have the scripts.”

“Taylor is overburdened and Kevin made himself available at the beginning of the year, but again, nothing was ready,” the Hollywood source continued. “Kevin had already committed to making his other movies. He had given the producers his schedule.”

“In the entertainment industry, you can’t keep yourself in a holding pattern and available while the producers are not getting their act together with the scripts,” this source explained. “There was nothing to shoot.”

Related: Kevin Costner Fires Back Over ‘Lie’ From ‘Yellowstone’ Set

Paramount Executives May Want ‘Yellowstone’ To End

Daily Mail reported that there also might be a financial incentive for Paramount to want “Yellowstone” to end. While the show airs live on the Paramount Network, it then streams on the NBC’s service Peacock. This is due to a licensing deal in which Peacock obtained the streaming rights to “Yellowstone” for four years after its final episode airs, which means that the longer the show goes on, the longer it can keep it.

“Paramount doesn’t want Yellowstone on the air for more than another year [and competing with their shows],” the Hollywood source alleged. “They’d prefer to have a new [Sheridan] show with Paramount+.”

The Hollywood source concluded by saying, “It’s a great show for Kevin. It pays him a lot of money and it helped reinvigorate him.”

“Yellowstone” is one of the best shows on television because unlike the vast majority of other shows, it refuses to go woke. We can only hope that Costner and Sheridan are able to put their differences aside and continue making “Yellowstone,” because we want this show to go on for many years to come!