'Yellowstone' Creator Taylor Sheridan Speaks Out on Kevin Costner Drama

The Yellowstone universe has been steeped in off-screen drama since the first half of season 5 wrapped up in January. With the second half of the Paramount Network's final season yet to film, things don't seem to be settling down any time soon. The show's creator and writer, Taylor Sheridan, spoke out about the behind-the-scenes drama, and he did not pull any punches.

The main conflict arose after the show's star, Kevin Costner, reportedly wanted to limit his involvement with Yellowstone to work on his passion project, Horizon. The four-part Western movie saga has been 35 years in the making, and Kevin even put up some of his own money to fund the films. When the Oscar-winning actor could not come to terms with Paramount, the network announced that Yellowstone will be ending after season 5.

Taylor Sheridan spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about what happened. He said, "...I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it —and that it’s a good one."

He insists that the change will not impact the future of John Dutton, who was never supposed to make it to the end of the show. He continues, "I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it."

Will Kevin return to film the second half of season 5, or have we seen the last of John Dutton? At this time, his involvement in the final episodes is uncertain. The Hollywood Reporter says that "There are ongoing discussions to try to convince Costner to film a few scenes to wrap his character, though the scripts are not yet complete."

Paramount Network previously announced that the second half of season 5 will resume in November, but that timing is dependent on the ongoing writers strike. Taylor told The Hollywood Reporter that the original plan was to shoot 6 more episodes, but 10 episodes is not out of the question. "If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10. It’ll be as long as it needs to be."

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