Kevin Costner Officially Confirms He Won't Return for ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 Due to ‘Horizon’ Commitments

After months of legal disputes and bad blood with the creators of Yellowstone, Kevin Costner - who plays fan-favourite character, John Dutton, in the hit neo-Western series - has taken to Instagram to officially confirm he won't be returning for the new season.

Season 5 Part 2, which was originally set to air in the summer of 2023, but was delayed due to the Writers Guild of America strike, is now due to premiere on November 10th, 2024.

Shortly after the announcement from Yellowstone, Kevin Costner released the video speaking about his role in the forthcoming season, “Hi everyone, I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon, doing all the things that's required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love and I know you love, I just realized that I'm not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future. It was something that really changed me, I loved it, and I know you loved it, and I just wanted to let you know that I won't be returning, and I love the relationship we've been able to develop”.

Horizon will be released to theatres on June 28th, after a momentous premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May, following which Kevin Costner received a standing ovation. At the end of his new video, Costner added a tongue-in-cheek message to his fans ahead of Horizon's premiere later this month, “I'll see you at the movies”.

After staying silent for many months, Kevin Costner delved into the rumoured Yellowstone feud earlier in the year while doing press for Horizon. Costner outlined that, despite claims from the Yellowstone camp that he'd been prioritising his Horizon passion-project at the expensive of the Paramount TV series, he always put Yellowstone first and did his best to make things work for the new season.

He shared with Deadline, “I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven. In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six. They weren’t able to make those. Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit Horizon into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps”.

The Bodyguard star explained, “I don’t want to get down in the gutter with the Yellowstone thing but what I’m telling you is straight up. I have taken a beating from those fucking guys and I know a lot of times where it’s coming from. I just elected not to get into that. But if you know me well enough, I made Yellowstone the first priority, and to insinuate anything else would be wrong. I did not initiate any of those things. They did. They were doing a tap dance and this poor guy [Sheridan] was also having to write so much, and I don’t know why they didn’t stick up for me”.

Taylor Sheridan, who co-created the series and continues to serve as a lead writer for Yellowstone, has had his differences with Kevin Costner since the first episode aired in June 2018, but he spoke with THR recently to emphasise he still holds Costner in high regard, “My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered. 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. But 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 how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it”.

It's certainly a shame for Yellowstone aficionados, with Kevin Costner's role as the patriarchal figurehead, John Dutton, in charge of the sprawling, under-fire ranch undoubtedly pivotal to the blockbuster show's success. Nonetheless, they'll be excited to watch the new season of Yellowstone on November 10th, as well as getting the chance to see Costner playing another on-screen cowboy on June 28th in the first instalment of Horizon, which is expected to be a four-part movie series.

For more on Yellowstone, see below: