The incident happened at the same time that star Kevin Costner was reportedly thinking about leaving his show. A Saturday event at PaleyFest, when Kevin Costner, 68, and his other Yellowstone cast members were set to take part in a panel discussion following an episode screening, was noticeably missing Costner, other cast members, and series creator Taylor Sheridan.
The discussion was held in response to a Deadline report that Matthew McConaughey was in talks to feature in a spinoff of the well-liked Paramount+ series, and Kevin Costner was thinking about leaving to concentrate on directing and costarring in the upcoming Western, Horizon.
The panel for the event, which took place at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, was initially supposed to include Sheridan, EP David Glasser, Costner, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley, Gil Birmingham, Jacki Weaver.
Dawn Olivieri, Wendy Moniz, Josh Lucas, and Mo Brings Plenty made up the final panel roster. At the occasion, Paramount Network’s president of development and production Keith Cox expressed optimism for Costner’s future on the program but stated he was unable to give a clear timeline for the start of Season 5’s filming.
An uproar of cheers followed his statement, “What I can tell is that our star, the face of our show, and the executive producer are quite certain he’s going to stay with our show.” PEOPLE’s request for comment was not immediately answered by representatives for the Paley Center or Paramount Network.
At PaleyFest, Lucas, who portrays Costner’s character John Dutton in flashback, was asked if he thought the show could go on without him. He responded that he believed Sheridan “always planned on at some point, having Kevin Costner die and having multiple characters die.”
“And so you know that’s just the way the tale goes, the growth of what the ranch is, which is why when you see the cemetery and the names of Elsa and Jacob and these people, I believe it’s obviously going to evolve and change,” explains 51-year-old Lucas. ”
And I think that’s what hopefully people will really like as it goes,” the speaker added. “I don’t know, Taylor can tell a story about the future for all we know.” Guests began to trickle out of the PaleyFest panel as soon as they learned of the last-minute lineup change, according to one witness.
Another attendee stated there were no refunds, even with the reduced panel, Variety reported. When asked about McConaughey and Costner joining the Yellowstone family, a Paramount Network representative told PEOPLE in February that they hoped they would both be 53.
Yellowstone has a significant Kevin Costner presence, and we hope it will continue for a very long time. Since that time, Chris McCarthy, president of ViacomCBS, has confirmed that McConaughey will be a part of a popular Paramount+ series spin-off.
The prequels 1883, starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill; 1923, featuring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford; and 6666 were all preceded by that series, which will be the latest to be influenced by the original series. In speaking to THR, McCarthy said that the team “wouldn’t be what it is today without Kevin and we hope that that stays for a long time to come.”