Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Co-Star Admitted That It Was ‘Easier’ Without Him on the Set

Kevin Costner‘s exit from the second half of Season 5 of Yellowstone felt like a very personal fight between him and creator Taylor Sheridan. Now, one of the 69-year-old actor’s former co-stars is revealing how his departure affected the cast — and Costner might not like to hear what he had to say.

Luke Grimes plays Kayce Dutton, the youngest son of Costner’s character, John Dutton III, so he had plenty of interactions with the Oscar winner. He shared his insight with Esquire about not having Costner on set anymore. “To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone,” Grimes shared. “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.”

Costner’s character was [Spoiler Alert!] found dead seconds into their first episode back after a long hiatus. It really wasn’t a surprising turn of events given Costner and Sheridan’s feud in 2023 that carried into the press. Obviously, Grimes and the other cast members felt that building tension between Sheridan and Costner before he departed the show. The initial feud began over Costner’s schedule when the actor and writers’ strike pushed production to a later date, interfering with the filming of Horizon: An American Saga.

Sheridan chimed in about the rift to The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023 and he hinted that Costner’s legal team made the situation worse. “My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” he said. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting.”

Costner finally broke his silence in May about the back and forth with Sheridan and told his side of the story. “I made a contract for seasons five, six, and seven. In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract,” he told Deadline. “They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six. They weren’t able to make those.”

Somewhere in between the men’s stories lay the truth, but it seems that Costner’s exit brought some relief to the cast — the feud was finally over.

Before you go, click here to see celebrity co-stars who allegedly hated each other in real life.