Revealed: Kevin Costner frantically tried to return to Yellowstone after reports he was skipping final season... but demands to veto Taylor Sheridan's scripts ended chance of returning

He has a contract clause stating his character can't be killed in a shameful way His threat to sue the production also turned producers against him Kevin Costner was reported earlier this summer to be leaving his hit Paramount+ series Yellowstone ahead of the second half of its fifth — and now final — season. The deal-breaking request was allegedly that he be given veto power over Sheridan's scripts, something the showrunner couldn't abide by, though Costner also reportedly has a 'moral death' clause in his Yellowstone contract that severely limits the way his character John Dutton could be killed off. Fatal error: Kevin Costner, 68, negotiated to get back on Yellowstone for its season 5B amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes, but his request for veto power over scripts ended any chance of him returning, Puck News reported on Thursday; still from Yellowstone Not giving in: Showrunner, writer and director Taylor Sheridan butted heads with Costner and refused to turn over the creative control he had accrued over the years from the successful series; seen in 2021 in Las Vegas Earlier this year, Costner had been negotiating with Paramount over his requests to reduce his work schedule for Yellowstone season 5B, as he was set to direct the first installment of his four-part Western film series Horizon around the same time. Paramount backed Sheridan and backed out of negotiations; seen in November 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas That's all she wrote: The last straw was reportedly Costner's claim that he might sue for season 5B wages during a hearing in his divorce battle with estranged wife Christine Baumgartner; seen in March 2022 Although Sheridan has been criticized for allegedly spreading himself too thin with multiple shows for Paramount and Paramount+ that he largely writes, directs and showruns himself, he wasn't willing to cede that creative control to his star. Sticking point: Costner has a clause in his contract saying John Dutton can't be killed off in any way that would shame or embarrass his character, and he feared Sheridan might breach it; still from Yellowstone Back and forth: But sources claimed that Sheridan wasn't in violation of it with Dutton-free scripts for season 5B, and they said Costner had never read how his character would be written off; Sheridan seen in February in Austin, Texas Back in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fast & Furious series stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham all have clauses in their contracts requiring that any on-screen fights they have not be too lopsided in favor of the villain, and filmmakers aren't allowed to show the actors being severely injured, presumably for fear of hurting their pride and macho image.