While Kevin Costner has had issues with Yellowstone and Paramount executives, Christine Baumgartner did not force him to quit the show.
Kevin Costner may be very lucky in the film industry, but when it comes to love, not as much. When Costner divorced his first wife in 1994 (Cindy Silva has since remained out of the spotlight), he wound up paying one of the largest divorce settlements in the history of Hollywood. However, after meeting Christine Baumgartner while filming Tin Cup, in 1996, Costner was smitten.
The two began dating and eventually got engaged in 2003. Costner learned from his first marriage and had a prenup drawn up so that he would not lose his entire fortune if his marriage did not last. This turned out to be a smart move, as after Costner and Baumgartner’s unconventional wedding and being married for nearly 20 years, the couple shocked fans when they called it quits in 2023.
The reason for the divorce was never made public. All that was ever revealed was that Costner and Baumgartner divorced as a result of “irreconcilable differences.” However, many wondered if Kevin Costner left Yellowstone because of his now ex-wife. After all, with the long hours away from home, it looked like leaving the hit show could have been a last-ditch effort to save the marriage. But, this was not the case. Despite the impending divorce, Costner was already leaving Yellowstone. The reason why Costner was leaving, though, would not be revealed until the divorce was well underway.
The Official Reason Kevin Costner Left Yellowstone
Creative differences between Kevin Costner and executives at Paramount led to Costner leaving the series
The only reason that Costner clarified why he was leaving Yellowstone, despite the high ratings the show was enjoying and the incredible salary Costner was being paid, was because it came into question during a child support hearing.
While it appeared that Costner may be leaving so that he could pay less child support to Baumgartner for their three kids, in reality, Costner was leaving the show as a result of creative differences between himself and executives.
Costner testified that he had a “long, hard-fought negotiation” with the executives at Paramount regarding splitting Season Five into two parts. Costner did not want to do this because it impacted his ability to work on other projects, specifically Horizon: An American Saga, which is a four-part movie series.
In a sign of good faith, Costner stated that he “changed” his schedule with Horizon to shoot the first half of Season Five of Yellowstone. However, the second half of Season Five had yet to be written, and the first half was not finished.
Costner was to be paid $12 million each for the first and second parts of Season Five. But when it was clear that nothing was moving, Costner said that he had his representatives tell executives to “have them pay me whatever number, we came up with a number, and they [Yellowstone] walked away.”
Costner was done with Yellowstone and the series concluded with the second half of Season Five in 2024.
Many Believe That Christine Baumgartner Had A Role With Kevin Costner Leaving Yellowstone
Yellowstone may have contributed to the divorce between Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner but it does not appear Baumgartner made Costner quit
During the divorce proceedings, there were rumors that Baumgartner had something to do with Costner leaving Yellowstone. Rumors abounded that Baumgartner pressured Costner to leave because he was gone for long stretches, leaving her to raise their children.
Other rumors claimed that Baumgartner used Yellowstone as an ultimatum before she filed for divorce. But, as Baumgartner attested in court, she never “pressured” Costner to leave the show. Costner’s leaving was of his own volition.
“I have avoided being public about the reasons for our divorce,” Baumgartner said. “I have done this to protect our family’s privacy. I did not pressure Kevin to leave the Yellowstone show.”
An insider close to the couple also claimed the divorce and Costner’s leaving Yellowstone were completely “unrelated.”
However, an insider close to the former couple claimed the opposite. The insider said that Yellowstone was not the ultimate reason for the split, but it was a factor.
The tension between Baumgartner and Costner got to be so high, that according to the source, “Kevin’s team even asked about the possibility of moving the show to California so he could film certain scenes. It’s been a discussion through the years, but it never worked out. Kevin has been making a lot of effort to make it work for his family.”
Whatever the reason may be, it was clear that Costner was not happy during the final season of Yellowstone. With Costner no longer attached to the project, it gave him plenty of time to focus on his saga, Horizon.
