‘Yellowstone’ creator ‘disappointed’ by Kevin Costner’s exit

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has finally addressed Kevin Costner‘s sudden exit from the series and what it means for the future of the show.

“I’m disappointed,” Sheridan says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday. “It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”

Sheridan went on to assert that the 68-year-old actor’s departure was to focus on his own four-part film series, Horizon, and not creative differences, as has been rumored.

“I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone,” Sheridan insists. “But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”

As for Costner’s character, John Dutton, Sheridan suggested that was never going to be around for the very end of the show, and the actor’s exit hasn’t altered Yellowstone‘s conclusion.

“I don’t do f***-you car crashes,” says Sheridan, — referring to a phrase that arose after Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes killed off Patrick Dempsey’s character amid behind-the-scenes tension. “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”