Yellowstone Creator Reveals Kevin Costner Final Straw That Led To Removing Star
The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes might be causing headaches for Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, but they pale in comparison to the absolute migraine series star Kevin Costner might have given the showrunner. According to TV Line, Sheridan was willing to include the already difficult Costner in the second half of Yellowstone‘s current and final season until the Dances With Wolves star demanded he be granted veto power over all of Sheridan’s scripts.
Kevin Costner not only wanted a higher salary for fewer shooting days but also made the audacious request that he be given final script approval and even the ability to veto any of Sheridan’s scripts he didn’t like.
Prior to the WGA strike, Yellowstone creator and main writer Taylor Sheridon had completed scripts for the back half of the show’s fifth season that didn’t feature main character John Dutton whatsoever. Sheridan had a change of heart, however, following a communication with Kevin Costner’s reps, where they expressed that Costner wanted to come back for Season 5B as well as a potential Season 6 and—if all went well—even a Season 7.
It’s reported that Sheridan was considering writing Costner into his scripts for Season 5B until Kevin himself opened his mouth and seemingly sabotaged the whole deal.
A phone call between Sheridan and Kevin Costner in early July of this year didn’t go so well, thanks to Costner’s allegedly outrageous demands. The Academy Award winner not only wanted a higher salary for fewer shooting days but also made the audacious request that he be given final script approval and even the ability to veto any of Sheridan’s scripts he didn’t like.
Sheridan, who is very protective of Yellowstone to the point where he’s personally written the bulk of the series, naturally balked at this demand, which left him and Costner at an impasse.
The Moral Death Clause
The odd part is that should Taylor Sheridan write the Dutton family patriarch out of season 5B via an offscreen death, the script will have to meet Kevin Costner’s approval anyway. It has been reported that Costner’s Yellowstone contract has a very unusual clause revolving around any death his character should face. This “moral death” clause apparently states that Costner’s character can only be killed off in certain ways.
Specifically, John Dutton can not be dispatched in a manner that would be considered “shameful” or “embarrassing ” to the character and, by extension, Kevin Costner himself. Shameful and embarrassing are subjective terms and beg the question: what does Costner consider a shameful death?
We can assume the provision covers anything objectively embarrassing, like Dutton falling off his horse and getting fatally impaled by a cactus, or anything equally absurd, but what about the murder plot that John’s adopted son Jamie came up with in Yellowstone’s Season 5 midseason finale?
The clause, as reported on, appears vague enough that should he want to, Kevin Costner could raise a stink about any method used to eliminate his character under the guise that he considers it shameful (or embarrassing).
It’s reported that Sheridan was considering writing Costner into his scripts for Season 5B until Kevin himself opened his mouth and seemingly sabotaged the whole deal.
Fans should expect that John Dutton’s death—if it occurs—will most likely be something heroic or honorable just to avoid any legal entanglements. It looks, however, like such entanglements might be impossible for Sheridan to avoid, even if he writes a scenario where Dutton dies while saving a bus full of orphans and puppies.
That’s because Kevin Costner has allegedly threatened to sue Paramount over breach of contract for rescinding an offer for the actor to return to Yellowstone following his unrealistic demands. Fans will have to wait until after the ongoing strikes to see how this scenario plays out and what it means for the second half of Yellowstone‘s final season.
