Kevin Costner has managed to topple a hit series and a long marriage at the same time.
As I told you– and everyone else has, too — Costner is exiting “Yellowstone” with the second part of Season 5. The show will go on with Matthew McConaughey, sort of a “Yellowstone: The Next Generation.” Most of the popular cast will return except for Costner, whose character will either die on or off screen in likely one episode of Season 5, Part 2.
The new “Yellowstone” will then pick up in December for Season 6, or however they label it.
Costner has wanted out of the series for a long time. Now he gets his wish. I told you a few months ago that he and creator Taylor Sheridan hated each other. Costner’s turned what was a golden goose into a sick duck.
And in the real world, this news comes in the same week as the announcement that Costner’s wife, Christine, mother of his three younger kids (out of seven, has filed for divorce after 18 years. Are we surprised? No. Back in 1995, when Costner was divorcing his first wife and mother of his three kids, he made headlines for fathering a child with Bridget Rooney, whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers. Around that time, I ran into Costner romancing the 28 year old daughter of casino owner Steve Wynn in Las Vegas.
Rumors have always followed Costner about his extra-social activities. Did they intervene this time, too? His publicist has actively been denying it, but stories coming out of the “Yellowstone” set are rampant but not confirmed.
As far as the divorce goes,the writing was on the wall when Costner tried to rent his sprawling Aspen ranch for $36,000 a month. When a “happily married” celebrity starts selling off real estate, that’s the sign that the marriage is over and the couple is selling in advance of an announcement. We can surmise that Costner’s marriage ended in January.
Meantime, Costner is attempting to make a four part, 10 hour TV series about the Civil War, for New Line/Warner Bros. What started out as a movie is now four massive ones that will wind up on HBO’s Max one day, for better or worse.
But John Dutton is dead.
