Taylor Sheridan is setting the record straight.
After months of bombshell reports about Kevin Costner’s future on Yellowstone, the creator is speaking out for the first time.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sheridan touched upon the future of Yellowstone.
For those uninitiated, Paramount Network is ending the series after five seasons, with the final episodes set to segue into a Matthew McCanaughey-led spinoff.
Sheridan explained that Costner was adamant about wrapping up his work on Yellowstone Season 5 so that he could focus on his new movie, Horizon.
“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan said.
“He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone.”
“I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”
Yellowstone Season 5 was set to return to the cable network this summer for what was planned as the final episodes of the season before heading into a potential sixth season.
However, that plan has changed, and the series is set to conclude with its fifth season.
Ahead of that announcement, rumors ran rampant that Sheridan and Costner locked horns and that there was discord between them.
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” Sheridan told THR of the alleged drama.
“His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone.”
Sheridan also touched upon Costner’s frustration with John Dutton’s arc.
“I never had that conversation with Kevin,” Sheridan said.
“There was a time in season 2 when he was very upset and said the character wasn’t going in the direction he wanted.”
“Kevin felt [Yellowstone Season 2] was deviating from that, and I don’t know that he was wrong. In season 3, we steered back into it,” he dished, adding:
“And I recall him winning a Golden Globe last year for his performance, so I think it’s working.”
Sheridan also said that “once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on hour the press or public seem to be reacting” about the feud rumors.
“[Kevin] took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
Sheridan revealed that the scripts for the last-ever episodes of Yellowstone have not been written.
Writing won’t resume until the WGA strike is resolved.
As for how Costner’s exit will affect John Dutton’s final arc, Sheridan is “disappointed.”
“It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
The super-producer went on to say that he’s not to blame for the hold-up and that he doesn’t get to dictate schedules.
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Remember, you can watch Yellowstone online right here via TV Fanatic.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.