Kevin Costner’s agents were reportedly “begging” for him to be rewritten into the new ‘Yellowstone’ series before he settled his messy divorce.
Kevin Costner’s agents were reportedly ‘basically begging’ for him to be rewritten into the new ‘Yellowstone’ series before he settled his messy divorce
The 68-year-old actor announced his exit from the hit Paramount show in June and completed his work on the fifth series last year, but is now said to have wanted to make a comeback for the second half of the season ahead of settling his split from ex-wife Christine Baumgartner, 49.
Puck News claims Kevin’s representatives managed to arrange a phone call between themselves and show creator Taylor Sheridan, 53, who had written most of the fifth season’s second half under the belief Kevin would not be returning.
The outlet reported even though Taylor was apparently willing to rewrite in order to continue Kevin’s character John Dutton’s storyline, the actor’s alleged demands for more money, a reduced shooting schedule and script approval scuppered negotiations.
Divorce proceedings revealed Kevin had discussed participating in a sixth season with producers, but negotiations failed.
He said: “There were issues about creative. I tried to break the log jam. They walked away.”
Kevin also wasn’t happy the final fifth season would be filmed in two parts, and said: “I was going to do my movie ‘Horizon’ and leave that show, do my movie, then do (the second half.)
“A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.”
Taylor has said he was “disappointed” by Kevin’s decision to quit the show, adding to The Hollywood Reporter: “My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered.
“His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
Meanwhile, Kevin’s ex-wife reportedly didn’t “really have a choice” over settling their divorce as the actor “had all the power”.
The couple of nearly 20 years have brought a surprise end to their months of legal wars over support payments after Christine filed for divorce in May.
But a friend of the former model’s has told DailyMail.com: “Christine didn’t really have a choice but to settle because Kevin had all the power. Had she continued fighting, she would risk losing everything.
“Christine said, ‘It is what it is’ (and) that she won’t miss going to court and having sleepless nights.
“She said for the kids it’s a win because no child wants to go through this, let alone in public.
“She was the one who wanted to settle things outside of court in the first place. “She never wanted any of this circus. It’s been a living nightmare and now she just wants to move on and start fresh and begin making her new house a home.”
It’s been reported Christine had received more than $400,000 to pay the costs of her and Kevin’s bitter court battle.
A joint statement from the couple said: “Kevin and Christine Costner have come to an amicable and mutually agreed upon resolution of all issues pertaining to their divorce proceedings.”
TMZ reported if Christine challenges the judgment “she would have to repay Kevin more than $1 million and pay his attorney's fees for the prenup fight”.
Christine is said to have agreed the terms of a three-page settlement letter.
It is believed her request for $850,000 in legal fees was removed from the arrangement after a judge last month agreed with Kevin’s proposed amount of child support for his and Christine’s three children – Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and 13-year-old Grace – of $63,209 per month.
The judgement was made despite the sum falling far short of Christine's request for $175,057 per month, which she later reduced to $161,592.
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