Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner’s divorce has reached the stage of them battling out various tentpole issues – like child support – in court. While their split has been the primary point of discussion surrounding the actor, there is also a lot drama and rumors surrounding Yellowstone, his exit and the end of the mega-hit western. Now, during a divorce hearing, the actor behind John Dutton shared new details about leaving Taylor Sheridan’s flagship show, and he admitted that he thinks there might be a lawsuit.
In his first remarks about leaving Yellowstone and it coming to an end after Season 5B, Kevin Costner said there’s a chance he will sue over how everything went down with the show. According to Deadline, during his testimony, the actor said he will “probably go to court” over how his exit from the Paramount Network show was handled.
According to the report, if Costner sues, the defendants will likely be 101 Studios and Paramount Global, which is Paramount Network’s parent company. While being questioned by his ex-wife’s lawyer about the show, the Dances with Wolves director said details regarding an offer for Season 6 of Yellowstone were “complicated.” He said he was offered $24 million to do Seasons 5, 6 and 7 of the acclaimed western, however, negotiations seemed tense as he explained:
We did negotiate. There were issues about creative. I tried to break the logjam. They walked away.
Months ago, news came out that there was tension between Costner and Yellowstone. The problem reportedly came from the producers and the actor disagreeing on his shooting schedule. As the Oscar winner is working on his multi-part project Horizon, he reportedly wanted to spend less time shooting Sheridan’s show, so he could focus on his own films. Reportedly, the actor wanted to film the first eight episodes of Season 5 over 50 days, and for the second half of that installment (which still has not been filmed), he wanted to get all his work done in a week.
This tension over schedules and the production of Horizon happening around the same time as Season 5 of Yellowstone is reportedly the primary point of contention between the actor and the producers. In the courtroom, Costner provided a bit more detail about this disagreement, saying:
Somewhere along the line, they wanted to change things. They wanted to do 5A and 5B; [it] affected Horizon. I was going to do my movie Horizon and leave that show, do my movie, then do B. A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.
Now, it seems like Kevin Costner is considering taking legal action over how his exit from Yellowstone was handled. It’s unclear, per the Deadline report, if he’ll actually file a wrongful termination lawsuit or if this was “part of legal maneuverings during his increasingly acrimonious divorce proceedings.” Sources told the publication that if legal action is taken, it could get complicated when it comes to what he was contractually obligated to do. This is because the filmmaker reportedly made himself “unavailable” to the show.
At the moment, it’s unclear if Costner will take legal action against Yellowstone over his exit. However, as the situation develops, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Currently, it’s unclear when Season 5B of Yellowstone will come out. However, the first half aired earlier on the 2023 TV schedule, and it is available with a Peacock subscription. You can also watch Sheridan’s various Yellowstone spinoffs with a Paramount+ subscription.