Yellowstone fans would have never seen this plot twist coming, and sadly, they never will. A well-known singer and songwriter says he was asked to play a long-lost Dutton brother, but because the show is being canceled after Season 5, he got canceled, too.
“I was fired up about it and so bummed when it was canceled,” Cory Asbury tells Taste of Country. “So bummed.”
The GMA Dove Award-winning singer tells Taste of Country he had the gig, but then everything went downhill.
・Season 5 Part B is going to be the final chapter of Yellowstone. It’s set to begin in November 2024.
・After Season 5 Part A ended in January, contract negotiations between Kevin Costner and Paramount reached an impasse.
・The Hollywood writers strike and SAG-AFTRA strike pushed the show’s timeline back even further.
“I was supposed to be Kayce’s long-lost brother,” Asbury told Dutton Rules podcast host Adison Haager during an Instagram Live Q&A. “We were gonna move to Montana for a full year. We were ready … Anna (his wife) gave me the OK and our kids were like, ‘OK, cool, we’ll live in Montana.’”
He first admitted he was asked to be a part of the show during a fan Q&A on Instagram Story in July:
Asbury says he was asked to meet with Luke Grimes and creator Taylor Sheridan, but the meet-up never took place. Sheridan and Paramount have never shared plans or plot points about Season 5 Part B or Season 6. Asbury concedes that he was asked to not spill this news, but since it’s all in vain, he’s comfortable with it.
Plus, he wants people to know that he was very close to starring on Yellowstone, a show he’s a fan of. Filming would have required him to clear his calendar for most of a year, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. Ryan Bingham has done similar for his role as Walker on Yellowstone.
During Season 5, Lainey Wilson appeared in several episodes. Her character, Abby, formed a bond with a Dutton wrangler named Ryan, but the Part A finale indicated that this particular romance had reached a conclusion.
A new Dutton brother means John and his wife put a child up for adoption at some point, or John Dutton fathered a child with a different woman (making this new character a half-brother). Neither scenario is hard to imagine on a show that constantly keeps viewers guessing.
Season 2 of Yellowstone will air on CBS though this year. It’s not clear if the network will also feature Season 3. Production on Season 5 Part B is set to begin in late spring.