‘Yellowstone’ Actor Luke Grimes Addresses Kevin Costner’s ‘Unfortunate’ Drama With the Show

Yellowstone star Luke Grimes called the drama surrounding costar Kevin Costner’s untimely exit from the western drama “unfortunate” as the rest of the cast prepares to head back to Montana to film the final episodes. 

"Whatever happened there is unfortunate if it's changed anything about how the show is going to unfold," Luke, 40, said during an interview with The Independent on Thursday, April 25. “I know, [Kevin] got busy with his movies that were like passion projects [the newly announced Horizon: An American Saga for one]. At a certain point, you gotta do what you gotta do, man; you gotta do what you love."

While the Taylor Sheridan drama was originally set to return for the second half of season 5 in late 2023, production was delayed due to on-set tension. 

The Field of Dreams star, 69, has portrayed lead character John Dutton in Yellowstone since 2018. Rumors began swirling in February 2023 that disputes over shooting schedules were pushing Kevin to walk away from the beloved drama. 

“Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come,” a spokesperson for the production told Deadline at the time.

Paramount later announced that the second half of season 5 – which is now rumored to be slated for November 2024 – would be the final episodes. 

“I’d like to be able to do it but we haven’t been able to,” Kevin told Entertainment Tonight on April 9. “I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but right now we’re at five. So how it works out – I hope it does – but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will. Maybe this will circle back to me.”

Kevin made it clear that he’d “love” to be a part of the upcoming episodes, if he “[feels] really comfortable with [it].”

A source exclusively told Life & Style, “He’d like to close the series properly so he can move on and feel good about it,” adding that “a lot of the cast and crew blame Kevin for getting the show canceled.”

“It might have gone on another season or two if he hadn’t made such a stink,” the insider added. 

While the Dances With Wolves actor has his “fantasy” about how his character’s signoff should play out, Kevin told Entertainment Tonight, “That’s Taylor’s thing.”

"Well, you know, he needs to be proactive in what happens,” he added. “I said as much to him a while back. I had thoughts how it could happen, but we just have to see.”