“Yellowstone” was all about family drama, especially when it came to the Dutton siblings. The show literally started with one of them, Lee Dutton, meeting his fate in a tragic inaugural episode that set the tone for “Yellowstone” going forward. After this, we learned that Wes Bentley’s Jamie Dutton was actually adopted, and thus not a Dutton by birth in a scene that Bentley claimed was like a gut-punch to perform. Of course, poor old Jamie didn’t make it out of “Yellowstone” alive, with the show ending after five seasons in December 2024 and the adopted Dutton brother meeting his own fate at the hands of his sister, Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton.
Luke Grimes’ Dutton brother, Kayce, however, not only made it out of the drama-packed show alive, but it seems we’ll soon see a Kayce Dutton spin-off that could be show creator Taylor Sheridan’s next “Sicario.” That’s fitting, seeing as the character was seemingly supposed to be at the center of a significant storyline for a now-scrapped sixth season of “Yellowstone” that would have seen yet another Dutton brother emerge.
Neither Sheridan nor Paramount ever confirmed what plans were in place for “Yellowstone” before a high-profile feud between them and former star Kevin Costner necessitated a quick ending to the popular series. Now, a musician who claims to have been cast in the show has revealed some of what Sheridan and the network had in store for the season that never came to be.
The long-lost Dutton brother that never was
The “Yellowstone” family tree is complex enough, but it seems things could have gotten even more confusing had the show continued past its fifth season. Apparently, the brothers we all knew were not the only Dutton siblings, with a long-lost brother of Kayce Dutton living out there in the ether the whole time. This is according to Christian musician Cory Asbury, who claims to have been cast as the estranged Dutton brother for the never-realized sixth season of “Yellowstone” before the show came to an end following the last episode of season 5.
Speaking on the “Dutton Rules” podcast (via Taste of Country), Asbury explained that he was “supposed to be Kayce’s long-lost brother” and that he and his family were “gonna move to Montana for a full year.” He continued, “We were ready … [wife] Anna gave me the OK and our kids were like, ‘OK, cool, we’ll live in Montana.'” The musician was willing to cancel a year’s worth of live shows in order to make his stint on “Yellowstone” work, but after season 5 was confirmed as the show’s final season, plans for the follow-up episodes were scrapped. As Asbury told Taste of Country, “I was fired up about it and so bummed when it was cancelled. So bummed.”
The musician recounted how he was set to meet with both Luke Grimes and Taylor Sheridan, but that never came to pass, presumably because by that point the ongoing issues between Sheridan, Kevin Costner, and Paramount all but ensured the show was going to end with season 5 before that decision was made official.
More Dutton sibling drama would have been too much
A lot happened in the “Yellowstone” season 5 finale, including a secret appearance from John Dutton, despite the fact he died amid a whirlwind of controversy earlier in the season. The series finale had a lot to wrap up and packed in a heck of a lot of drama, even for “Yellowstone.” Of course, the writers didn’t have much of a choice, given the circumstances.
Back in 2022, it was announced that season 6 of “Yellowstone” was already being written. That season is now forever lost, but in a way, that’s probably a good thing if Cory Asbury’s claims about a long-lost brother storyline are true. A previously unknown Dutton brother would have meant that either John put his son up for adoption in the past, had a child with another woman, or had a kid he didn’t even know about. Not only would it have seemed a little contrived to suddenly unveil this long-lost Dutton sibling, but John wouldn’t have even been there to explain himself. What’s more, the show had really done all it could with sibling drama, and I’m not sure more of it would have been helped keep the series fresh had it run for another season.
Still, it’s not as if the planned Kayce Dutton and Beth Dutton spin-offs are going to be without their own family drama. Whether Asbury or the character he was supposed to play shows up in these “Yellowstone” off-shoots remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely considering the Kayce spin-off is supposedly focusing on his Navy SEAL past. Frankly, that’s probably a good thing.
