Kevin Costner ‘NOT returning to Yellowstone following fifth season’

Kevin Costner is reportedly not returning to his popular western series Yellowstone after starring on the show for five years.

Entertainment tonight has reported that the actor, who has starred as patriarch John Dutton since 2018, will be leaving the series after the current fifth season.

Costner’s future on the show is under intense scrutiny amid an alleged split with the show’s co-creator Taylor Sheridan.

The latest update comes just a day after it emerged that Costner’s wife of 18 years, Christine Baumgartner, had filed for divorce.

Her divorce filing on Monday was reportedly “completely one-sided” and devastated Costner, according to TMZ.

The second half of season five has yet to wrap up, and no update has been given on when the cast and crew will return to Montana to continue work on the rest of the season, ET reports.

The uncertainty has led to a lot of confusion and frustration, adds ET.

Last month, DailyMail.com reported new details about Costner’s split from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan.

Sources claimed that Sheridan had developed a “God complex” that reportedly left Costner frustrated with the development of the popular Paramount Network series.

The insider also claimed that Costner was frustrated with how his concerns about the direction the series was taking were dismissed by Sheridan. asked questions about the show’s future.

“Kevin will forever be proud and grateful for Yellowstone and the cast is like family to him,” the source said of Costner, who recently bagged a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of John Dutton.

“He just felt that Yellowstone was going in a direction that wasn’t in line with their initial vision and he was criticized, including that he should just stick to acting.”

Adding to the uncertainty surrounding the series is the fact that no date has been set for filming to begin for the second half of the final season, which could be disrupted by an impending writers’ strike after members of the Writers Guild of America for authorizing closure due to wage issues.

Last month, the New York Post reported that Costner’s desire to reduce his workload in the fifth season to focus on other projects was also the cause of the tension between him and Sheridan.

“It’s the same as with any showrunner and big star — there’s respect, but there’s friction,” a source described as “well-placed” within the production told the outlet.

Costner is currently directing and starring in Horizon, a western film series consisting of four separate films released three months apart.

Each movie is nearly three hours long, and after the quadruple release, Horizon will be split into a series made for television – each with 42-minute episodes.

Another “high-ranking” Hollywood source told the outlet that part of the blame for the “friction” on set rests with the creator.

Taylor is the star of his show. He is the most important person in all his shows,” they said.

Deadline reported in February that Costner wanted to film just one week into the second half of season five, having already cut back his work on the first half.

The obvious reason was that the actor wanted to focus on his upcoming western film franchise Horizon.

But Costner’s lawyer, Marty Singer, fired back after the report, claiming to Puck News that it was an “absolute lie” that his client would only shoot for a week.

“As anyone who knows anything about Kevin knows, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always done everything he can to ensure its success,” he said at the time.

Other internal sources have claimed that Sheridan’s lack of prep caused major delays in the production of the show – with one suggesting that Costner made himself readily available to shoot, only to avoid the creator’s “overstretched” schedule in the sit away.

They added that Sheridan was “overextended” and “nothing was ready,” even after Costner “made himself available.”

They said Costner was willing to shoot the second half of the season sometime last year, as well as January of this year, but there would be no completed scripts to shoot at that time.

“Kevin has worked extremely well with Taylor and his production company, 101 Studios. They were supposed to shoot the second chapter of season five late last year, but they just didn’t have the scripts,” a source told The Post.

Kevin had already committed to making his other films. He had given the producers his schedule. There was nothing to shoot.’

There are also reports that Costner’s beloved character John Dutton will be killed off in the second half of Yellowstone’s current fifth season.

It’s unclear when production on the new episodes for Yellowstone Season 5 will begin, or if those episodes will feature John Dutton’s death.

In addition to the tensions with Sheridan, it was also reported last year that Costner’s wife Baumgartner had had enough of her husband’s demanding work schedule.

“It has really cut a hole in their family life,” a source said Radar Online. “The show is such a hit, producers want it to go on forever!”

It was further reported that Christine’s patience had run out, which led to her giving Costner an ultimatum.

“However, Christine wants her husband to hang up his cowboy hat,” the source revealed.

“She wants a firm commitment that this is his last season – otherwise he might have to hit the dusty track!”