Taylor Sheridan found success with the Yellowstone franchise, but the show has also sparked a surprising number of off-screen feuds.
The western drama, which premiered in 2018, followed the conflicts along the shared border of a large cattle ranch and the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. Kevin Costner obtained we invested in the show with his performance as the patriarch of the Dutton family, however the drama didn’t just stay on the screen.
while Yellowstone he was initially set for a long career on the Paramount network, rumors about Costner’s future on the show put things on hold. Costner and series creator Sheridan denied reports of a feud, but Paramount Network confirmed in May 2023 that Yellowstone would end for good at the end of season 5. The hits kept coming with Costner not returning for the second half of the final season.
“Kevin has been a huge part of Yellowstone’s success,” a network spokesman said in a statement at the time. “While we had hoped to continue working with him, unfortunately we couldn’t find a window that worked for him, all the other talent and our production needs to move forward together. We respect that Kevin has prioritized his new film series and wish him the best.”
Yellowstone is known for its over-the-top plot lines and complicated family drama, but the show’s cast and crew have also been involved in plenty of off-screen controversies over the years. Since the Paramount Network series premiered in June 2018, the actors along with co-creator Taylor Sheridan have dismissed criticism that the show is written with (…)
Costner, who focused on directing and acting Horizon: An American Sagahe stood by his decision to move on.
“It wasn’t difficult,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2024. “It was a necessary decision to say, ‘Hey, OK, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s time to move on.”
Costner continued, “I gave this thing five seasons. I was very happy to do it. And I don’t need drama. So, take that drama out of the way, let’s stop the guesswork. The fans have been too good to me. And my obligation is to keep doing things that mean something to them.”
Yellowstone ended later that year with the death of Costner’s character. The end of the series paved the way for his predecessor to cost Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly i Luke Grimes to continue telling stories to the Yellowstone universe, plus spin-offs starring new cast members.
Keep scrolling to relive the biggest fights off screen in the Yellowstone universe:
Taylor Sheridan vs. Kevin Costner
Paramount confirmed it in 2023 Yellowstone would definitely end at the end of season 5. At the time, it was speculated that Kevin Costner and Taylor Sheridan had a falling out over the direction of the show. Sheridan, meanwhile, slammed claims that he was at odds with Costner.
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t changed,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had a problem with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work over the phone.”
Sheridan, however, hinted that he wasn’t that close to Costner after his departure.
“Once lawyers get involved, people don’t talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and try to deflect blame,” he noted. “He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anybody deserves it. (Horizon) seems to be a big priority for him and he wants to change the focus. I certainly hope that (the movie) pays off, and that it’s good.”
Costner also addressed a communication breakdown with Costner, telling Deadline in 2024 that he would have been happy to return for the second half of Yellowstone’s final season, had the scripts been ready. “I was straight with (Sheridan) and he said what we were going to do, and I believed him, and we didn’t get there,” he said.
Cole Hauser vs. Taylor Sheridan
Taylor Sheridan, Cole Hauser.
Omar Vega/Getty Images ; Emerson Miller for ParamountUs Weekly confirmed in December 2023 that Taylor Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch filed a lawsuit against Cole Hauser’s coffee company, Free Rein, for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising.
The filing demanded that Hauser’s company stop using the Free Rein brand and “destroy all products, marketing and promotional materials” related to its brand. Bosque Ranch also noted that they expected Free Rein to pay “compensatory damages” because Free Rein was allegedly “irreparably harming” Sheridan’s business.
Hauser did not file a response to the lawsuit, and a month later, Sheridan’s legal team asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
When news of the lawsuit broke, Hauser’s comments about Sheridan resurfaced. He had previously told Men’s Journal that he had a fight with Sheridan the second time they met.
“They know each other so well at this point that Sheridan, who has written or co-written every episode of the show, uses aspects of Hauser’s early life to elicit emotional responses from him on camera,” the outlet wrote.
Hauser, meanwhile, joked about having a history get into bar fights.
“A bear pooping in the woods? I’ve probably been to one on every continent,” he joked. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with fighting. Sometimes I’m just tired of words, so let’s beat the crap out of each other. Maybe in the end you’ll buy me a Guinness and I’ll buy you a Bushmills, and we’ll get it over with. It’s kind of what boys do.”
Peacock Kevin Costner’s departure from Yellowstone came as a surprise to most of his co-stars, and not everyone has kept in touch with him since the drama. The western drama, which premiered in 2018, followed the conflicts along the shared border of a large cattle ranch, the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, and land developers. Costner (…)
Wes Bentley vs. Kevin Costner
In an October 2025 expose by The Hollywood Reporter, it was revealed that an argument between Kevin Costner and Wes Bentley led to the production of Yellowstone. closed briefly
Several sources described an alleged incident where the two co-stars got into a disagreement over a scene. Costner allegedly pushed Bentley to go off script, which he refused to do.
“Kevin didn’t like that and lunged at him,” a source who was present at the alleged incident told the publication. “No punches were thrown, but they got in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just hot until they had to separate.”
The alleged situation left Kelly Reilly in tears.
“The incident with Wes was the line in the sand,” a second source claimed. “After that, everything was different. Everyone loved Wes and that really made Taylor upset. Kevin and Taylor butted heads from there. It was very awkward.”
A spokesperson for Bentley confirmed the altercation to The Hollywood Reporter, calling it a “work-related argument during an emotionally and physically tough scene,” which was “discussed and resolved.”
Costner’s spokesman declined to comment on the incident.