Kevin Costner isn’t rushing to watch John Dutton’s death on Yellowstone. Following his exit from the series earlier this year, the Western drama killed off his character in the Season 5 Part 2 premiere that aired on Sunday (November 10) on Paramount Network. In a new interview on SiriusXM, Costner revealed his reaction to his character’s demise, confirming he knows what happened but has not watched the episode. In fact, he claims he had no idea the episode was airing on Sunday. He also declares that he “didn’t quit the show, OK?,” saying that he had signed a contract to film this season and his Horizon films.
“Well, I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night. That’s a swear-to-God moment. I swear to God,” Costner said on The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM on Monday, November 11. “I mean, I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in that one.’ I’m not in this season. But I’ve been seeing, but I didn’t realize yesterday was the thing. I really have, my focus has been on what I was having to do, and I’ve got a few calls to make. So you think — sometimes I’m like just a passenger in my life, you know, there’s a lot going on. And somebody said, ‘You know it played last night?’ And I said, ‘Hmm, OK.’ So no, I found out about it this morning actually.”
John was killed by the hitmen hired by Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), but the killers made it look like a suicide. Jamie (Wes Bentley) didn’t know that Sarah had gone through with this hitman idea they briefly discussed in the Season 5 Part 1 finale that aired in January 2023. Even though she says he’s “shielded” from blame, there’s no way Beth (Kelly Reilly) will see it that way.
Costner said he has learned how his character died, and the manner of his demise makes him less eager to watch it soon.
“I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it,” Costner said. When host Michael Smerconish pointed out that his character didn’t seem like a “suicide kind of guy,” Costner replied, “Well, they’re pretty smart people. Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”
The Oscar winner also shared more details about why he left Yellowstone, saying that he did try to make filming schedules for both the show and his Horizon films work but delays on the Taylor Sheridan series caused problems.
“Yeah, I didn’t really have to leave anything behind. There were the gaps that were there. There was contractual things that would allow for both things to be done, but because both things were contractual, you had to make room for the other thing,” Costner explained. “There was room, but it was difficult for them to keep their schedule. It seemed to be, it was just too difficult for them to do it. There was the time there, what happened, you can deal with it.”
He stressed that he didn’t want to leave Yellowstone.
“But no one, I didn’t leave. I didn’t quit the show, okay? I had made a contract to do all three. There was a contract in place to do all three. And within about an eight-month period, two more different kind of contracts were being negotiated. Not at my request, but at their request to try to do things,” Costner shared. “I accommodated them on those extra two things that changed, things change, and finally when they wanted to change it a third time because I had my obligations to do, I had 300 people waiting for me, I couldn’t help them anymore. I just simply couldn’t help them. But I didn’t quit the show… Everybody has to live up to what they say they’re going to do. And it doesn’t matter what business you’re in.”
This isn’t the first time Costner has said that Yellowstone‘s uncertain filming schedule is what caused his departure. He noted the scheduling issues in a 2023 child support hearing in California and in the time since. In recent months, he’s expressed interest in returning to the series. That seems less possible now that John has been killed off, and given that the series finale has already been filmed.
