Cole Hauser Teases Yellowstone Season 5B After Kevin Costner’s Exit

Yellowstone’s Cole Hauser is sharing details on how the show’s characters will navigate the departure of Kevin Costner’s character, John Dutton.

“I think the year is really picking up the pieces and moving on,” the Rip Wheeler actor told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published on Tuesday, November 5. “Figure out how to lose such a polarizing figure in John Dutton and also come together as a family and as a unit, and understand what happened. There’s just a lot of different moving pieces that Taylor [Sheridan, cocreator] did a really good job and a really smart job of doing.”

“Everybody really has their moment to deal with the loss and also, how to continue to survive,” Hauser, 49, added.

Costner announced his departure from Yellowstone in June after months of speculation about whether he would appear in the upcoming season 5B. The Paramount Network drama’s final episodes will premiere on Sunday, November 10, after a lengthy delay. The first half of season 5 concluded in January 2023.

“I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all of the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love and I know you love,” Costner said in a video shared via X in June.

He continued, “I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue season 5B or into the future. It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you loved it. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”

As for Yellowstone, Hauser told Entertainment Tonight that he can’t share much about how the show will end, but he hopes fans will be satisfied.

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“I think there are a lot of people — well, millions of people — who have an idea of how it’s going to be. I think some will be right and some will be very wrong,” said the actor.

While Paramount announced in May 2023 that season 5 would be Yellowstone’s last, in August, multiple reports emerged that the drama could return for a sixth season. It was reported at the time that Hauser and costar Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth Dutton, were negotiating new deals to return and were close to signing on the dotted line.