What Really Led to Kevin Costner and Taylor Sheridan's 'Yellowstone' Falling Out
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Yellowstone star Kevin Costner and creator Taylor Sheridan
A new report claims that the final straw in the failed negotiations to get Kevin Costner back on Yellowstone came when the Oscar winner tried to dictate Taylor Sheridan's storylines.
An insider told Puck News that before the Writers Guild of America strike began in May, Costner and Sheridan were in talks for Costner to potentially return to Yellowstone after being written out of the series.
Sheridan reportedly was willing to write Costner's character John Dutton back into Season 5B, as well as potential sixth and seventh seasons of the series, but Costner's demands ultimately turned the series creator off completely.
Related: Your Guide to Every Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone Spinoff Series
According to Puck, Costner requested more money and a shorter shooting schedule, at least partly to accommodate his Horizon film franchise. But it was one other demand that led Sheridan to throw in the towel: Costner wanted more creative control of the series, with the rights to review, edit and even veto scripts.
Puck reported that Sheridan, the sole writer on Yellowstone, refused to give Costner that level of control over storylines, especially considering Costner already has some input: He has a clause in his contract requiring a "moral death" for his character, which means John Dutton is highly unlikely to die from, say, being shot while robbing a bank or holding a daycare center hostage.
In his divorce proceedings from estranged wife Christine Baumgartner, it was revealed that Costner grew frustrated with frequent script delays on the series impacting his Horizon production schedule.
Related: What We Know About Kevin Costner's Marriages and Divorces
For his part, Sheridan previously said that while he was ultimately "disappointed" in Costner's untimely exit, he still respects the actor tremendously. He also claimed that Costner's ouster didn't change the character trajectory for John Dutton in the series.
"It truncates the closure of his character," Sheridan said. "It doesn't alter it, but it truncates it."
That doesn't mean that it's the end of the road for the Sheridan-verse, of course: In addition to several prequel series to Yellowstone, Sheridan's already working on a sequel series for after the show ends with Season 5.
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