It’s a trying time for Yellowstone fans, as the hugely popular Paramount Network neo-western was confirmed to be coming to its conclusion far sooner than originally anticipated, allegedly due to Kevin Costner’s scheduling conflicts and other rumored behind-the-scenes issues. It’s obviously a far tougher time for the star himself, as he was reportedly blindsided by wife Christine Baumgartner filing for divorce, all while he’s in the midst of early production on the second feature in his planned quartet of Horizon westerns. As facts continue to be sussed out, a report has resurfaced from late in 2022 alleging that Baumgartner gave the Emmy-winning actor the choice to either say goodbye to John Dutton or say goodbye to their relationship.
Considering Christine Baumgartner hasn’t gone public with a list of reasons why she filed for divorce from her hubby of nearly two decades, it’s still technically not 100% clear how likely those rumors were to be authentic, though the way things played out over the past couple of months potentially rules out that rumor being pure coincidence. There obviously have been reports about Costner and co-creator Taylor Sheridan butting heads over scheduling, with the actor allegedly arguing for shorter filming windows, those reports have largely been tethered to his Horizon films, and not his family or home life.
According to RadarOnline, here’s what the situation was back in November 2022, just ahead of Season 5’s debut:
It's really knocked a hole in their family life. She wants a firm commitment this is his last season — or he might have to hit the dusty trail!
To be sure, Kevin Costner did speak previously about the hardest thing about filming Season 4 in Montana, following the shift in production from Utah, was that he had to spent months out of the year filming the show without being able to go to and from home to see his family on a regular basis. That kind of extended filming schedule was indeed part of why he was hesitant to join the show at first, though he was obviously convinced to stick with it for years on end.
Kevin Costner's Divorce Shocker Rumored To Be Tied To Yellowstone Set Pregnancy, But Not So Fast
Perhaps if the Dances with Wolves filmmaker would have been focused on limiting his Yellowstone filming specifically to be with Baumgartner and their three kids, things might be in a different spot now, though it’s certainly impossible to know without hearing it from her. Still, it stands to logic that jumping headfirst into plans to film four movies back to back wouldn’t be the ideal way to respond to any kind of “come home or else” ultimatum. But again, maybe those details are completely separate from whatever personal issues spurred the divorce paperwork.
Ahead of Paramount’s confirmation that Yellowstone would be ending with its still-unresolved fifth season, with plans to return to TV in November, rumors spread saying that Costner would be leaving after Season 5, though it’s unclear if those reports were meant to be taken as an olive branch from the actor to Christine Baumgartner, or if they were unfounded.
Even though the flagship series may be coming to a direct end after the next six episodes are over, quite a few upcoming Yellowstone shows are still on the way, with a sequel series being confirmed for Paramount+, which is very likely the project that Matthew McConaughey is set to star in.
