"Yellowstone" star Luke Grimes was candid in a recent about Kevin Costner's controversial departure from the show.
Costner exited the series in June after filming only the first half of Season 5. There have been conflicting reports as to why, with some saying it was due to scheduling while others said Costner had fallen out with showrunner Taylor Sheridan.
Grimes, 40, who plays Kayce Dutton in "Yellowstone," alluded to deeper tensions in an interview with Esquire.
"Hopefully everyone can see that it was time," Grimes told the outlet. "To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone."
Reflecting on filming the latest episodes of the show, Grimes said things were notably easier.
"Obviously, it didn't make it superfun to be around," he continued. "Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we've filmed."
Last month, Grimes spoke about Costner's exit at the Season 5 Part 2 premiere in New York, saying that it was "hard to imagine the show" without the actor, but "that's always where the show was headed. It was, Can these kids do it without him?"
"So we all knew it was going to get there, we just didn't know how or when, and clearly it was different than what we thought. But what it did do was ramp the show up to a 10 and now everything starts to unravel," Grimes said, according to the Independent.
"I guess I was probably a little disappointed that we didn't know that he wasn't going to be back. I think there might have been a better goodbye had we done it in some other way. It was more of a surprise than anything.
"But like I said, that's above my pay grade. And our job is just show up and do what's on the page and do it to the best of our ability."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.