Kevin Costner Officially Answers The Big ‘Yellowstone’ Question: “I Won’t Be Returning”

You can stop speculating: Kevin Costner’s time as John Dutton is officially over. 

The Oscar winner shared the news in a video statement shortly after Paramount announced the return date for the remainder of Yellowstone season five Thursday. 

“I want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone—that beloved series that I love, that I know you love—I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,” Costner said. “It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning and I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop and I’ll see you at the movies.”

Costner sent shockwaves through the television world when news broke in May 2023 that he would be exiting Yellowstone prematurely. 

After months of speculation, Costner revealed in a September child support hearing that it was a “long, hard-fought negotiation” about splitting season five into two parts that spurred his decision to leave the show. He went on to reveal that there were “no scripts written” for the second part of season five and “they still hadn’t finished” the first part of the season at the time.

As such, Costner said that Yellowstone was beginning to get in the way of his own Western epic, the two-part movie series Horizon: An American Saga, that he famously took out a mortgage to fund. He said he changed his schedule to shoot the first part of season five, adding, per People, that “that’s a big deal in this world.” In the end, filming Yellowstone twice a year simply wouldn’t work for him.  

Now, even with Horizon wrapped and the first part headed to theaters next week, it seems like no amount of public lobbying could convince Sheridan to let Costner reprise the role of John Dutton for the show’s final chapter.

Sheridan previously revealed that Costner’s premature exit from the juggernaut series “truncates the closure of his character.” It remains unclear how showrunners plan to handle his absence.

The second half of Yellowstone season five premieres on November 10.