Kevin Costner has broken his silence about his shocking decision to leave TV’s top show “Yellowstone.”
The Oscar-winning Costner, 68, who plays patriarch John Dutton on the Taylor Sheridan series, spoke about his “Yellowstone” departure for the first time Friday during a Santa Barbara, California, child support hearing. The hearing stemmed from Costner’s ongoing divorce from estranged wife Christine Baumgartner.
Costner testified that a “long, hard-fought negotiation” over splitting season 5 of the Western saga into two parts was the final straw forcing his decision to leave the Paramount Network series, according to People.com (and other outlets).
“I’ve been told it’s a little disappointing that (it’s) the number one show on TV (and) I’m not participating,” Costner said on the stand, adding. “I’ll probably go to court over it.”
Costner was a core part of “Yellowstone” through the first half of season 5, which ended Jan. 1 with Dutton serving as Montana’s governor. But Costner is also producing, directing, starring and co-written another Western, the four-part movie series “Horizon: An American Saga.”
Costner said he “changed” his movie schedule to shoot the first part of “Yellowstone” season 5 once the decision was made to split the season in two, adding, “That’s a big deal in this world.”
