Kevin Costner shut down production on Yellowstone after ‘lunging’ at co-star: report

Kevin Costner got into a heated altercation with his Yellowstone co-star Wes Bentley, resulting in the production being briefly shut down, according to a new report.

Costner infamously left Taylor Sheridan’s Western drama ahead of the second half of the fifth and final season, resulting in his lead character being killed off. His exit came amid reports of a falling out with Sheridan over scheduling issues.

Citing sources in a wide-ranging new report about Costner, The Hollywood Reporter claims the 70-year-old was pushing Bentley, who plays his adoptive son on Yellowstone, to ditch Sheridan’s script in one scene in favour of Costner’s own take.

Bentley reportedly told Costner that he had signed up for Taylor Sheridan’s production, not Costner’s.

“Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at him,” an eyewitness source told the outlet. “No fists were thrown, but they were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.”

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According to another of THR’s witnesses, their co-star, English actor Kelly Reilly, was in tears. Production was briefly shut down.

A spokesperson for Bentley confirmed the altercation to the outlet, calling it a “work-related argument during an emotional and physically tough scene”, which was “discussed and resolved”. Costner’s representatives did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

“The incident with Wes was the line in the sand. Everything was different after that,” another source told THR. “Everyone loved Wes and so that really made Taylor upset. Kevin and Taylor butted heads from there on out. It got very awkward.”

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Yellowstone first premiered on the Paramount Network in 2018, starring Costner as the Dutton family patriarch, John Dutton III. The series follows his family, who have owned a massive and enviable piece of land in Montana for generations.

As the seasons wore on, THR reports that the series’ cast and crew grew weary of Costner’s “diva-like” behaviour.

Costner officially announced his departure from Yellowstone in June 2024, blaming scheduling conflicts with Horizon, a multi-part Western epic he was directing and starring in.

“I did it for five years, and I wanted to work more than once a year,” he said on an episode of the Today Show at the time. “We lost an entire year at one point, and I thought that can’t happen again.”

Costner claimed he even left filming for his movie for a “whole month” in order to shoot the rest of Yellowstone season five. But when he arrived, there was “no script” and “things imploded”.

Meanwhile, Sheridan said Costner’s decision “disappointed” him as “it truncates the closure of his character”.