Kevin Costner Not Thrilled About John Dutton’s Fate

Kevin Costner says he won’t rush to his TV to learn his Yellowstone character John Dutton’s fate.

He’s not as angry as some fans are, either.

Consider this your spoiler alert if you have not yet watched Season 5, Episode 9 of Yellowstone.

Almost immediately, viewers see how the show dealt with not having Costner on set to finish the series. He was the star of Part 1, but two Hollywood strikes and unproductive contract negotiations scrubbed him from the show before Taylor Sheridan and his writing team had the chance to figure out a smooth exit.

“I’ve been seeing ads with my face all over the place and I’m thinking, ‘Geez, I’m not in that one,'” Costner says when the scene in question comes up. He spoke with Michael Smerconish on the Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM.

How Did John Dutton Die on Yellowstone?

Just two minutes into Sunday’s (Nov. 10) episode of Yellowstone, fans learn Governor John Dutton has died. Authorities believe it to be death by suicide, but pretty soon we see a flashback that finds Sarah Atwood meeting with a professional hitman. They agree to make his death look like suicide.

All of this seems to implicate Jamie Dutton, as he talked with Sarah about a hitman toward the end of Part 1 of Season 5. However, the Dutton Rules podcast team points out a path that could exonerate him.

That conversation was focused on killing his sister, Beth Dutton, not his dad, John Dutton.

Kevin Costner Responds to John Dutton’s Death

Costner says he not only didn’t watch Sunday night’s episode, he had no idea it was even airing. It wasn’t until Monday morning when people began calling and texting that it all came together.

“I heard it’s a suicide, so that doesn’t make me want to rush to go see it,” he says, smiling. Smerconish tries to get him to say a little more, then offers his own criticism of this type of character exit. He agrees with Beth and Kayce Dutton that John Dutton isn’t a “suicide kind of guy.”

“Well, they’re pretty smart people,” the actor says. “Maybe it’s a red herring. Who knows? They’re very good. And they’ll figure that out.”

Costner also reveals that he had no idea how his character would die and more or less stayed out of it. His time on the show was a series of short-term contracts, so over the years he’d had discussions about possible ways to kill off John Dutton. None of them looked like what fans saw on Sunday night.