Kevin Costner says he ‘took a beating’ from Yellowstone producers after show ‘imploded’ as he reveals ‘real truth’ behind drama and claims ‘they didn’t stick up for me!’

Kevin Costner is ready to set the record straight on Yellowstone’s behind-the-scenes story.

The 69-year-old actor, who plays John Dutton III in the Taylor Sheridan series, claims he has fulfilled his contract despite persistent rumors and discusses the delay of the show’s finale because Season 5 ended prematurely.

A feud between Costner and Sheridan reportedly caused the delay. Paramount claimed that Costner refused to shoot more episodes, instead promoting his new film franchise, Horizon, while Costner claims that Paramount sought contract changes due to Sheridan’s delayed scriptwriting.

“There was no script,” Costner said Deadline on Tuesday. ‘And then the place imploded. You have read one version [of the show’s drama] for a year and a half.’

He added: “I’ve taken a beating from those damn boys and I often know where it comes from. I just chose not to comment on that. But if you know me well enough, I have made Yellowstone my number one priority, and to insinuate otherwise would be wrong.”

The 69-year-old actor, who plays John Dutton III in the Taylor Sheridan series, claims he has kept his contract despite persistent rumors and discusses the delay of the show’s finale as Season 5 ended prematurely.

Costner, who revealed he did not film the remaining episodes of Season 5, also defended Sheridan, claiming, “I didn’t initiate any of these things. They did. They were tap dancing and this poor man had to write so much too. And I don’t know why they didn’t stand up for me.”

After the first half of Yellowstone’s fifth season aired late last year, the show went on hiatus for the holidays. Their return to film, originally scheduled for the beginning of the year, was postponed until sometime this summer, with no premiere date announced.

Since Yellowstone went on hiatus, Costner has borne the brunt of the blame.

‘Over the past year and a half I haven’t had to respond to the arrows and slings, because I was just busy working. They’ve been pretty slick in keeping their hands off; there was never anyone on the record.”

However, there were rumors that he only wanted to work for one week to film the rest of the episodes. Costner claims Paramount cheated him.

“I haven’t had a good feeling about it over the last year because of the way they’ve been talking about it,” he told Deadline. “It wasn’t true.”

“So now I’m talking a little bit about what the real truth of it was. I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven. In February they signed a new contract after two or three months of negotiations. They wanted to do those again, and instead of seasons six and seven it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six. They couldn’t make that.’

He said he was prepared to film Horizon on the Yellowstone schedule, but the timeline kept changing.

“There was no script,” Costner told Deadline on Tuesday. ‘And then everything imploded. You have read one version [of the show’s drama] for a year and a half

He added: “I’ve taken a beating from those damn boys and I often know where it comes from. I just chose not to comment on that. But if you know me well enough, I have made Yellowstone my number one priority, and to insinuate otherwise would be wrong.”

‘Horizon was in the middle, but Yellowstone was first. If it [Horizon] closely monitor. They just kept moving their holes.”

Costner, amid much criticism of the show’s future, acknowledged that he felt “bothered” by the production’s apparent lack of support.

He added: “They were quiet and that bothered me in the world of how you do things. Why don’t you stand up for me? I was going to sell this thing for you. I would only do one season. I made it for three. I’ve fulfilled three.

“So I went from one to three, then I did a fourth for them and they wanted to do three more. That’s why I contracted to do that. They imploded. I had a contract to do five, six and seven. I got a contract to do that. There was nothing I could have done to get out of there, and I didn’t try to figure out how when we started.

‘I left my film behind [Horizon] to get to them in time for 5B,” Costner continued. “I left exactly when they wanted me to, and that made it difficult for me.”

However, he claimed that the root of the problem lay in the lack of scripts for the final part of the Yellowstone episodes.

“It turned out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They took four more days to complete the first eight episodes. I left early to give them what they needed for a full eight, and I was sad that the crowd didn’t get an ten. They didn’t have the scripts for anything else.”

“So what you ended up reading was me saying, ‘Look, I’m working on my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever, I can give you a week.” .” I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said: I will. And then they [spun that] I only wanted to work for a week.’

“I haven’t had a good feeling about it over the last year because of the way they’ve been talking about it,” he told Deadline. ‘It wasn’t true; still from Yellowstone

When asked if anything could be resolved if he sat down ‘man-to-man’ with Sheridan, Costner replied: ‘Don’t talk to me about man-to-man’; Costner and Taylor Sheridan in 2018

Costner also hinted that Sheridan was not concerned at Paramount, and suggested that this was the reason scripts for the second half of Yellowstone season 5 ran out.

In addition to his involvement in the popular western, Sheridan oversees a host of projects including Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, Special Ops: Lioness and Lawman: Bass Reeves, in addition to 1883 and 1923 Yellowstone spin-offs.

Paramount is also reportedly planning to launch a new Yellowstone sequel/spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey.

“There’s a lot of products that they put out there,” Costner said. ‘[Yellowstone] didn’t have the scripts. And they wrote these other three shows. They never talk about that.’

When asked if anything could be resolved if he sat down “man-to-man” with Sheridan, Costner replied, “Don’t talk to me about man-to-man.”

Despite the drama, Costner hasn’t closed the door on his return to Yellowstone; still from Yellowstone

Paramount is also reportedly planning to launch a new Yellowstone sequel/spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey; seen in September in NYC

“I was honest with him and he said what we would do and I believed him and we didn’t get there,” he said.

Despite the tragedy, Costner hasn’t closed the door on his return to Yellowstone.

‘I’m very open to coming back. If there’s so much other stuff going on, maybe this will come back and it’ll be a really cool two seasons,” he said.

‘Or end it, if the text is there and I’m happy with it. I am open to that. But I got a beating because these guys didn’t stand up for me and let out crazy stories.”