Kevin Costner has responded to his character John Dutton’s exit in Yellowstone Season 5B. The Field of Dreams star portrayed the Dutton family patriarch in the first four seasons and the first part of Season 5, but opted out of appearing in the final few episodes of the series.
Kevin Costner comments on John Dutton’s death in Yellowstone
John Dutton dies in the Yellowstone Season 5B premiere. Initially, it seems like a case of suicide, as a handgun is found beside his body. The audience never sees John’s face in the scene, as he is portrayed by Costner’s stunt double. The actor himself doesn’t appear in the episode, though he is mentioned in the credits.
During an appearance on Sirius XM’s The Michael Smerconish Program on Monday, November 11, Costner disclosed that he hadn’t watched the episode. He said, “Well, I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night. That’s a swear-to-God moment. I swear to God.”
The multi-Oscar-winner continued, “I mean, I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place.” Coster added, “And I’m thinking, ‘Gee, I’m not in that one. I’m not in this season’… But I didn’t realize yesterday was the [premiere]. My focus has been on what I was having to do, and I’ve got a few calls to make… Sometimes I’m like just a passenger in my life, you know. There’s a lot going on.”
Costner also revealed that he’d heard that John died by suicide and that was contributing to his reluctance to see the episode. He hoped that all that was just a “red herring.” He said, “Well, they’re pretty smart people. Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”
As it turned out, Kevin Costner might be right. John Dutton didn’t die by suicide but was seemingly murdered by Dawn Olivieri’s Sarah Atwood. She concocted the plans for it with the help of Wes Bentley’s Jamie Dutton.
Yellowstone Season 5B airs on Sundays on Paramount Network.
