Kevin Costner Not Returning To ‘Yellowstone’ After Season 5, Sources Allege

Earlier today, we reported that Kevin Costner’s wife Christine Baumgartner had filed for divorce from him after 18 years of marriage. Now, sources are alleging that Costner will not be returning to the hugely successful show “Yellowstone” after season 5.

Costner Allegedly Leaving ‘Yellowstone’

Source close to production told Entertainment Tonight that Costner will not continue to play the character John Dutton on “Yellowstone” after the current fifth season.

The insiders added that there is still no update as to when the cast and crew will return to Montana to film the rest of the season five episodes. They said that this has led to much confusion and frustrations from all sides behind the scenes.

Puck News reporter Matthew Belloni warned back in February that on-set challenges and disagreements that have reportedly plagued “Yellowstone’s” fifth season.

“Yellowstone is really in limbo right now until they can figure out whether Costner is coming back or, more likely, whether he’s going to be written out of the show,” Belloni said at the time. “Once that determination is made, they can finish writing the second half of this season, shoot it, and it will likely air in the fall.”

Costner fired back at this through his attorney Marty Singer, who said that “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.”

“As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success,” he continued.

Related: Kevin Costner Turned On Taylor Sheridan After ‘Yellowstone’ Creator ‘Developed God Complex,’ Sources Allege

‘Yellowstone’ Drama

Sources claimed last month that much of the drama on the “Yellowstone” set stemmed from tensions between Costner and the show’s creators Taylor Sheridan.

“Certain people in charge of the production developed a God complex,” a source with detailed knowledge of “Yellowstone” told Daily Mail.

This insider went on to say that Costner, 68, who is also an executive producer of “Yellowstone,” was told to “stick to acting” when he raised concerns about the direction the show was heading in.

“Kevin will forever be proud of and grateful for ‘Yellowstone’ and the cast is like family to him,” the source said. “He just felt like ‘Yellowstone’ is headed in a direction that was not in line with their initial vision and he was met with criticism, including that he should just stick to acting.”

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

Costner Reportedly ‘Extremely Cooperative’

Sources close to Costner claimed that he had made himself available to shoot “Yellowstone” episodes at the end of 2022 and then again in January, only to find out that Sheridan didn’t have any scripts ready.

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

“Kevin had already committed to making his other movies. He had given the producers his schedule. There was nothing to shoot,” this source added.

“Yellowstone” is one of the most popular shows on television today, as shown by the fact that a whopping 12.1 million people watched the season five premiere back in November. Much of “Yellowstone’s” popularity stems from the fact that it is one of the few shows on television that has managed to avoid going woke.

We can only hope that Costner does end up returning to “Yellowstone” because it’s hard to see the show continuing without him, and anti-woke programs like this one are needed now more than ever!