Kevin Costner had a short response when asked about the recent comments made by his former Yellowstone co-star Luke Grimes.
The actor, 69, famously announced his departure from the Western drama series in June this year amid reports of behind-the-scenes drama between himself and Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan.
His character, Dutton family patriarch John Dutton III, was recently killed off in the second part of the fifth and final season. According to actor Luke Grimes, who plays John’s son Kayce Dutton, Costner’s absence made the final installment of the Paramount Plus show “the easiest season we’ve filmed.”
“To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone,” Grimes told Esquire on December 10. “Obviously, it didn’t make it super fun to be around. Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve filmed.”
Just days after the Yellowstone series finale aired on Sunday (December 15), Costner was stopped by paparazzi in Aspen, Colorado, where he was asked if he’s spoken to Grimes since his exit from the series. In response, Costner simply told the reporter: “We’re done talking.”
The Oscar-winning actor also claimed Yellowstone hasn’t crossed his mind since he decided to leave the show. “I’m not thinking about [the Yellowstone finale]. I don’t think I’ve given it any thoughts. We’ll just let it go,” Costner said in the video published by the Daily Mail.
The Dances with Wolves actor previously claimed he is yet to see the show’s final season.
*Warning — Spoilers for ‘Yellowstone’ season five, part two ahead*
In the ninth episode of season five, titled “Desire Is All You Need,” his character is found dead from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide. Dutton’s daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) later discovers that her father was actually murdered by her own brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) and his scheming girlfriend, lawyer Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri).
When asked what he thought about his character’s death, Costner said: “I didn’t see it. I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it. I’m going to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know it was actually airing last night. I didn’t realize yesterday was the thing.”
He continued: “Sometimes I’m like just a passenger in my life. There’s a lot going on. And somebody said, you know, it played last night? And I said, ‘Hmm, OK.’ So no, I found out about it this morning actually.”
Costner said the Yellowstone writers are “pretty smart people” and expressed hope that Dutton’s supposed suicide was “a red herring.”
“Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out,” he added.
