Kevin Costner shares his ‘honest’ reaction to ‘Yellowstone’ character John Dutton’s controversial fate

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Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from the series.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kevin Costner broke his silence regarding the grim and controversial fate his character John Dutton III suffered on ‘Yellowstone’ a day after season five part two premiered on Sunday, November 10. 

Appearing on SiriusXM’s ‘The Michael Smerconish Program’ on Monday, November 11, the 69-year-old star revealed his “perfectly honest” reaction to the tragic death of his character of the Dutton family patriarch.

Within minutes after the episode started on Sunday, it was revealed that the beloved character was dead, presumably by suicide. As the episode progressed, it was revealed that Dawn Olivieri’s character Sarah Atwood had a hand in the Dutton’s death.

Kevin Costner reflects on the grim fate of John Dutton

As the episode aired, outrage sparked among the ‘Yellowstone’ fans as they were completely left devastated by the tragic ending of the character. 

While such a momentous event took place in the history of the TV show, Costner revealed that he did not even know the episode was airing on Sunday. 

“I'm going to be perfectly honest. I didn't know it was actually airing last night,” shared the Oscar winner during his appearance on the SiriusXM show, per E! News.

He continued, “That's a swear to god moment. I've been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I'm thinking, ‘Gee, I'm not in that one.’ But I didn't realize yesterday was the thing.”

The ‘Dances With Wolves’ star, who played the Dutton family patriarch for over four years, left the western show after the last episode of season five part one aired in January 2023. 

The word of Costner’s high-profile exit from the show started swirling in Tinsel Town when the rumor of his alleged rift with showrunner Taylor Sheridan started making headlines. 

The actor decided to opt out of part two of season five when the filming of ‘Yellowstone’ clashed with the dates of Costner’s directorial ‘Horizon’. 

However, during Monday’s interview, ‘The Bodyguard’ actor revealed that he didn’t know the trajectory of his storyline, saying he suggested “two possible endings” for John Dutton to series creator Taylor Sheridan early on in the show. 

Claiming he wasn’t very eager to see his own death on screen, Costner shared, “I heard it's a suicide, so that doesn't make me want to rush to go see it.”

Nevertheless, the actor shared that he had full faith in Sheridan and his team, as he concluded saying, “They're pretty smart people. Maybe it's a red herring. Who knows? They're very good. And they'll figure that out.”

Kevin Costner clarified he wouldn’t be returning in June 2024

Though the rumors of Kevin Costner exiting the show made headlines for more than a year, it wasn’t until June 2024, that the ‘Waterworld’ star clarified his stance on ‘Yellowstone’. 

Taking to his Instagram in June, he finally put the rumors to rest as he revealed that he wasn’t returning for the last few episodes of ‘Yellowstone’. 

“I want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love, that I know you love, I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,” shared Costner in a video shared on Instagram. 

He continued, “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 and I’ll see you at the movies.”