Everything Kevin Costner had to say about his death in Yellowstone

Kevin Costner is not turned on Yellowstone already, but him still has some thoughts about the direction the show took his character John Dutton after his departure.

Oscar winner confirmed his departure from the Paramount Network drama in June 2024 after months of speculation about whether she would appear in the final episodes of Season 5.

“After that long year and a half of work on Horizon and doing all the things that need to be done and thinking about them Yellowstonethat beloved series that I love and I know you love,” Costner began in a video shared via social media at the time. “I just realized that I won’t be able to continue in season 5B or in the future. It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you liked it. I just wanted to let you know I won’t be back. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”

Rumors of Costner’s departure began in early 2023 after the 5A season ended. Reports circulated that Costner contradicted Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan over the production’s timing, which overlapped with filming on Costner’s four-parter Horizon film saga. The duo denied any bad blood, but Sheridan later said was “disappointed” that Costner had no interest in continuing the show.

While Sheridan said in June 2023 that he doesn’t “f— you car crashes” in his writing, he still killed John Dutton in the season 5B premiere, though not in a car crash. In the November 10, 2024 episode, fans immediately learned that John was murdered by an assassin hired by Sarah Atwood (Hello Olivieri). The killer staged the scene to look like a suicide, but Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes) were immediately suspicious that all was not as it seemed.

Costner, meanwhile, claims he hasn’t seen the episode, but has been sharing his thoughts since it aired. Keep scrolling for everything he had to say about John’s death:

I’m not that interested

The day after the Season 5B premiere aired, Costner said he was unaware that the first episode had finally premiered without him. “I’ll be completely honest. I didn’t know it actually aired last night,” he said during a Nov. 11, 2024, interview on SiriusXM’s Program by Michael Smerconish. “That is the moment of swearing by God. I see ads with my face everywhere and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m not in it.’ But I didn’t realize it was yesterday.”

He noted that he hadn’t seen the episode, but had heard what happened, joking, “I heard it was a suicide, so I’m not in a rush to go see it.”

Kudos to the writer

In the same interview, Costner praised Yellowstone team for always crafting good stories — and hinted that he knew John’s “suicide” might not be what it seems. “They’re pretty smart people,” he said. “Maybe it’s a red herring. who knows They are very good. And they’ll figure it out.”

Kudos to the fans

As the second episode of season 5B aired, Costner shared his thoughts on the fan reaction to John’s fate. “Fans have a say in things and choose to watch things,” he said AND! News on November 17, 2024.

The actor went on to say that he pitched John’s death to Sheridan “a while ago” but had no interest in what happens now. “They do what they want,” he said. “I’m fine with that.”

No thoughts

During an interview on November 17, 2024 with Fun tonightCostner confirmed that he still hasn’t seen the episode where John dies. “I haven’t watched it, so I don’t really have any thoughts on it,” he joked.

Let it go

Costner doubled down on his lack of feelings towards Yellowstone coming to an end.

“I’m not thinking about the Yellowstone final, I don’t think I’ve thought about it at all,” he said in a video that Daily Mail December 18th. “We’ll let it go.