Reports have come out about Kevin Costner‘s alleged “diva-like” behavior on the set of Taylor Sheridan‘s Yellowstone. This led to an altercation between him and his on-screen son, Wes Bentley. Before we get into what happened, take a look at the positive words Bentley had for both Costner and Sheridan before the reported incident came to light.
In November 2024, Bentley sat down for an interview with ExtraTV, where he had many good things to say about the Yellowstone universe, including Costner. Talking about Costner’s “big and dramatic” exit from the show, Bentley said,
I’ll just say about Kevin that, you know, he’s such a huge part of the show and he leaves a big hole and we miss him, and I wish him the best luck.
He also stated that Sheridan was “great” at handling John Dutton’s final chapter and later added, “Taylor puts a lot into this. He cares a lot about his fans and about the story.”
Alleged Altercation Between Kevin Costner and Wes Bentley
Before Costner left Yellowstone, he and Bentley apparently got into a full-on brawl right in the middle of the Western drama series. As per a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the Let Him Go actor was pushing Bentley to perform scenes his way and ditch Sheridan’s script.
Bentley fired back, stating that he had signed up for a “Taylor Sheridan show”, not a “Kevin Costner production”. This alleged moment did not sit right with Costner, who “lunged” at the younger actor, according to a source.
The source, who was present on set when things went wrong, stated, “Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at him. No fists were thrown, but they were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.”
Kelly Reilly, who played the role of Beth Dutton, was reportedly in tears, and the production had to be halted for some time. Bentley is just another name in the long list of Hollywood stars who have come face-to-face with Costner, including Clint Eastwood.
Did Kevin Costner’s Passion Project Negatively Affect the Yellowstone World?
Costner has been vocal about his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga, but apparently, the four-part Western film series negatively affected the actor’s time on Yellowstone.
As per THR, things got awkward between Costner and the rest of the team when the spin-off, 1883, was announced. Around this time, the actor was circulating the script for Horizon‘s first part. Unfortunately, no one seemed to want to get in on the action.
A source said, “Nobody was jumping to buy [Costner’s] odyssey, and after 1883, he wanted to prove everyone wrong. He was obsessively pursuing it and as a result his world on Yellowstone starts unravelling.“
According to reports, after Costner managed to accumulate seed funding for his passion project, he only wanted to spend about a week on Sheridan’s set for the final episodes.
However, Costner seemingly addressed these reports in an interview with Deadline, telling his side of the story and putting most of the blame on Sheridan. He stated that he had left filming Horizon to be on Sheridan’s set, only to arrive and find out that “there was no script” available at the moment.
Talking about how the media spun the narrative against him, he added,
What you read in the end was that I said, ‘Well, look, I’m doing my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever else, I can give you a week. I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said, I’ll do that. And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week.
Costner continued that he had always put Sheridan’s show first, making the show his “first priority“. This is a stark contrast to what THR’s report claims, at least about the actor’s passion project affecting Sheridan’s series.
What are your thoughts on Costner’s reported altercation and “diva-like” behavior on set? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Stream Yellowstone on Peacock Premium and its spin-offs on Paramount+.
