Kevin Costner confirms he won’t be returning to ‘Yellowstone’ days after teasing future as he says show ‘changed’ him

KEVIN Costner has officially announced he will not be returning to Yellowstone.

The actor, who is starring in a new movie releasing next week called Horizon: An American Saga, made it official that he won't be returning to the beloved television series.

“I want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone," Costner said in an Instagram post.

"I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue season five B or into the future,” the actor said.

“It was something that really changed me. I loved it," he said about his experience filming the series.

"And I know you loved it. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning and I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop," he continued.

"And I’ll see you at the movies.”

On Thursday, Paramount announced the premiere date for the second half of the show's fifth and final season, which is Sunday, November 10 at 8 pm Eastern time.

Although the announcement made no mention of Costner's character, John Dutton, and what will be of that role in the second half of the season, that hasn't stopped fans from searching for answers.

Fans have been seeking out recent interviews with Costner to see if would reveal anything about his character if he were to not return to the show.

But fans turned up close to nothing.

“I’ve always felt that It might be an interesting moment to come back and finish the mythology of this modern-day family,” he said to People magazine.

“And if that happens, I would step into it if I agreed with how it was being done.”

He also previously told Deadline that Yellowstone's schedule kept being changed and would interfere with filming for Horizon: An American Saga.

Costner said he wanted to, but never shot the second half of season five because “there was no script, and then things imploded.”

He told the same thing to Today, where he explained his exit.

Kevin explained that after five years on the show, extensive delays in filming due to the pandemic, and scripts taking too long to finalize, he felt it was time to move on.

However, he also said if the show were to continue and he liked the story, he would consider going back in the future.

But last February, Deadline reported that Taylor Sheridan’s top-rated drama was looking to end.

The plan was to finish this signature show in a spectacular fashion and create a spin-off starring Matthew McConaughey.

Paramount has not released any information surrounding the spinoff.