Inside Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Exit: On-Set Rift Over Taylor Sheridan Loyalty

Yellowstone keeps finding new ways to become a story about Yellowstone. The latest? A report that Kevin Costner and Wes Bentley almost came to blows on set, with Kelly Reilly in tears and production grinding to a halt. Yep, it has gotten that messy.

The on-set blowup that allegedly shut down filming

According to an insider quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, things boiled over when Bentley pushed back on a scene that would have gone against Taylor Sheridan's direction. Costner did not like that. Per the account, Costner 'lunged' at Bentley. No punches, but it escalated into getting in each other's faces, some pushing and shoving, and crew had to separate them. Reilly was reportedly crying during the chaos, and the whole thing briefly shut down production.

One line that clearly hit a nerve: Bentley supposedly reminded Costner he had signed up for 'a Taylor Sheridan show, not a Kevin Costner production.' The scuffle wasn't about just one scene either; it was the breaking point after long-simmering creative tensions between Costner and the show.

Costner's history of clashes keeps resurfacing

None of this exists in a vacuum. THR has painted a picture of Costner as a brilliant but famously hard collaborator over the decades. The highlights reel is not flattering: feuds with co-stars and directors, reportedly brushing off advice from Steven Spielberg, friction with heavyweights like Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell, and a $15 million lawsuit against his longtime producing partner Jim Wilson. Add in multiple arbitrations with production companies and a lawsuit from a stunt performer, and you can see why these new Yellowstone claims are landing with extra force.

What Costner says about why he left Yellowstone

In May 2024, Costner told Deadline that he did not ditch Yellowstone for his passion project Horizon, and that the schedule chaos was not on him. He says he originally signed a deal for seasons 5, 6, and 7, then got a revised plan that split season 5 into 5A and 5B with a fuzzy 'maybe' for season 6. On top of that, Yellowstone had first position on his schedule, and Horizon was slotted into the gaps that kept moving.

'I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven. In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we will do six. They were not able to make those. Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps.'

He also pushed back on the narrative that he restricted himself to just a week of work. His version: he offered the week to help when schedules jammed up, and that goodwill got spun as an ultimatum. Bottom line, from Costner's point of view, he did not cause the delays.

Yellowstone at a glance

• Title: Yellowstone
• Genre: Neo-Western drama
• Creator: Taylor Sheridan
• Cast highlights: Kevin Costner, Josh Lucas, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Kylie Rogers, Cole Hauser
• Rotten Tomatoes: 83% critics, 76% audience

The read on all this

It is wild to hear about shoving matches on the set of TV's biggest ranch soap, but it also tracks with the long-running tug-of-war between a star with serious clout and a creator who built a juggernaut his way. Costner sounds measured in his recent interviews. The new THR account is... less measured. Both can be true, depending on the day and who is telling the story.

Yellowstone is currently streaming on Paramount+ (USA).