In addition to a contentious divorce from Christine Baumgartner in 2023, Kevin Costner also had a falling out with Yellowstone creator, Taylor Sheridan. The standoff over his schedule and his salary resulted in the sixth season being canceled and Costner exiting before his character, John Dutton, could get a proper sendoff.
That blustery exit reportedly led to some of the cast, including Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, and Wes Bentley, to distance themselves from the 69-year-old actor, according to Life & Style. They were looking forward to another season on the popular series, but that opportunity was taken away the moment Costner walked away from the show. According to a source, the Oscar winner now feels “betrayed” by his former castmates, who are also going through emotions of their own.
“He used to hear from Cole and the rest of the gang – but they’ve cut him loose in the months since he walked away from the show,” the insider shared. They’re making no effort to see him and don’t get excited when he calls. They’ve drifted away.” Reilly, Hauser, and Grimes are now asking for a huge pay raise to continue as their characters on the upcoming Yellowstone spinoff, per the industry newsletter, Puck. Reilly apparently wants a massive $1.5 million per episode while Hauser is asking for $1.25 million per episode – in addition to their “contractually owed wages” for the now-canceled sixth season.
If Costner had stayed onboard, nobody would be in this legal quagmire – and it doesn’t help that he and his representatives were “basically begging” for his Yellowstone job back after negotiations didn’t go his way and his very expensive film, Horizon: An American Saga, that he is self-financing. The back-and-forth issue was probably too much for the cast to deal with, especially when they were worried about their jobs.
“After all that praise, you can imagine Kevin being a little hurt by their rejection He’s getting the cold shoulder treatment,” the Life & Style insider added. “It’s a kick in the teeth!” Costner found out the hard way about the cost of doing business in Hollywood.