Back from 2018 till earlier this year in January 2023, Yellowstone was raging as one of the hottest television series on air, widely loved by fans from all over the world. Yet while it has been made famous with the mixed efforts of both Kevin Costner and scripwriter cum director Taylor Sheridan along with the rest of the cast, it seems that the Robin Hood star has been a bit too haughty about it lately.
Following updates regarding Kevin Costner’s leaving Yellowstone after second part of season five, new reports had been surfacing regarding his return. But now even that seems highly unlikely, considering Costner’s one demand that was way too much for Taylor Sheridan to agree to.
Kevin Costner’s Bizarre Demand For Returning To Yellowstone
Kevin Costner was indeed one of the major-est characters in Yellowstone; also the reason why his quitting the show news left fans devastated. But recent reports show that the television series’ producers and filmmaker Taylor Sheridan weren’t the only ones at fault regarding Costner’s leave.
According to a report by Matthew Belloni from Puck News:
“Kevin Costner and [Taylor] Sheridan indeed got on a call together in early July to discuss how a return would work… But on the call, Costner, while speaking in a friendly tone to Sheridan, unfurled his list of demands: Increased money, reduced shooting schedule, and—here’s the kicker—the right to review, approve, and potentially veto every Sheridan script.”
While Taylor Sheridan just might have given in to the other demands, Costner’s last demand to have the right to review, approve, and potentially turn down every script written by Sheridan was a bit too much for him.
“That last part was a non-starter for Sheridan, who famously writes ‘Yellowstone’ himself and believed that 4.5 seasons of megahit TV earned him the right to say no. Paramount walked away shortly thereafter.”
However, that isn’t all: Kevin Costner also has a rather peculiar flaw in his Yellowstone contract that won’t even allow the makers to let Costner leave the show easily.
Kevin Costner Also Has A ‘Moral Death’ Clause In His Yellowstone Contract
As per Matthew Belloni from Puck News, Kevin Costner also has a ‘moral death’ clause in his Yellowstone contract, which was included during one of his previous renegotiations, which states that his character, John Dutton, cannot be killed off in a manner that Costner doesn’t approve of. In simple terms, the Dutton family head can only be eliminated from the series in the way that the Robin Hood star deems fit. If that wasn’t enough, the Dutton patriarch has also allegedly demanded money for all his canceled apperances in Season Six and Seven of the series even though Yellowstone is ending on Season Five.
While, according to Belloni, Taylor Sheridan only called Kevin Costner to agree to his terms so that they could easily “wrap up the character, fulfill the fans’ wishes, and to help promote the first Horizon, which Costner directed last summer and which Warner Bros. still has not given a release date,” Costner’s return seems highly unlikely after this incident. Until the SAG-AFTRA strike ends and Yellowstone goes back in production, fans will only have to wait to see how everything turns out to be.