‘He Deserved Better’: Yellowstone’ Fans Furious At Kevin Costner’s Exit

“Yellowstone” fans took to social media to make it clear they are furious with the way Kevin Costner’s character Governor John Dutton was written off the show when the final season premiered on Sunday.

In the first 30 seconds of the hit Paramount series, fans learned that creator Taylor Sheridan apparently didn’t have plans for any kind of heroic ending for its leading man for the second half of Season 5 — two years after the first half of the season debuted, and a year after fans learned that Costner wouldn’t be part of the series any longer.

Spoiler ahead:

The series opened with Dutton’s daughter Beth (played by Kelly Reilly) driving up to the Governor’s mansion and getting out crying. When she and her brother, Kaycee (Luke Grimes), both finally get past the authorities, fans see a blood splatter on a bathroom wall and a partial view of Costner’s character in his boxers with a gun next to his hand. 

His death is initially portrayed as suicide, but in a short amount of time we learn there’s much more going on with his death, which is likely a murder.

John Dutton deserved to go out like a gladiator, not a victim. Completely undoes the series. I’m not a fan at all how #Yellowstone handled Costner’s departure. pic.twitter.com/mECsM6gluf

— @Matthew Betley (@MatthewBetley) November 11, 2024

However, many disgusted with the exit of the fan favorite let producers know on social media, Fox News reported.

“Yellowstone has its first episode without Kevin Costner and they already ruined it in the first 5 minutes,” one person wrote.

Another added, “John Dutton deserved to go out like a gladiator, not a victim. Completely undoes the series. I’m not a fan at all how #Yellowstone handled Costner’s departure.”

A third person went on an expletive-filled rant, writing, “Waited 2 years for a new episode just to watch 3 minutes and change the channel. F**k you Taylor Sheridan, and f**k you [Kevin Costner] for not settling your differences.”

A fourth person wrote, “John Dutton was a fantastic character, and despite the Kevin Costner drama, he deserved a better goodbye than Yellowstone gave him.”

The “Waterworld” star previously told GQ that a scheduling conflict had nothing to do with his departure from the series amid reports that blamed him for halting production on the second half of the season due to filming for his western movie “Horizon: An American Saga-Chapter 1,” followed by the writers’ and actors’ strikes, as previously reported.

Costner said he offered options for killing off his character so he could make both work, saying, “‘Well, if you want to kill me, if you want to do something like that,’ I said, ‘I have a week before I start. I’ll do what you want to do.’”

The “Dances with Wolves” star said despite everything that has happened, he was open to returning to the series, Deadline noted.

Paramount later released a statement to Fox News about Costner’s GQ comments and said, “Kevin has been a big part of ‘Yellowstone’s’ success,” while wishing him the best.

Related: Kevin Costner Talks Killing Off ‘Yellowstone’ Character As Season 5 Production Finally Gets Underway