Kevin Costner reportedly nearly fought Wes Bentley on ‘Yellowstone’ set

A new report on Yellowstone is making wild claims about Kevin Costner‘s behavior on set.

The Dances With Wolves star nearly came to blows with his costar Wes Bentley during a tense altercation on the set of Taylor Sheridan‘s neo-Western series, THR reported.

The alleged conflict stemmed from a creative disagreement between the two actors, as Costner — who has directed several feature films but did not helm any episodes of Yellowstone — advised Bentley to deviate from Sheridan’s script while the two actors shot a conversation scene with Kelly Reilly, THR claimed.

Bentley, however, apparently told his costar that he would follow Sheridan’s vision.

“Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at [Bentley],” a source who was present on set alleged to THR. “No fists were thrown, but they were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.”

Another source who witnessed the alleged altercation told the outlet that the “incident” with Bentley was a “line in the sand” for Costner. “Everything was different after that,” the source claimed. “Everyone loved Wes and so that really made Taylor upset. Kevin and Taylor butted heads from there on out. It got very awkward.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Costner, Bentley, Sheridan, and Paramount.

A representative for Bentley told THR that the two actors had a “work related argument during an emotional and physically tough scene,” which ultimately was “discussed and resolved.” Costner’s spokesperson declined to comment to THR.

Costner later exited the show six episodes before its series finale — the fifth and final season was split into two parts, and Costner did not return for that second batch of episodes.

The circumstances surrounding the actor’s exit remain unclear, as some reports cited scheduling conflicts with Costner, while the Field of Dreams star claimed that the episodes were not written quickly enough for him to complete his scheduled work on the show. “There were no scripts,” he alleged. “I made Yellowstone the first priority, and to insinuate anything else would be wrong.”

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Sheridan said that he “never had an issue with Kevin” that the duo “couldn’t work out on the phone,” and claimed that the star’s exit from Yellowstone became more complicated once lawyers became involved, as people attempted “to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting.” 

Sheridan added, “[Costner] took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it.”

Costner also said that he’d be open to collaborating with Sheridan again in the future. “He’s very prolific about the things he does, and if he sees me in something that he wants to do, I’ll look at it just the way I did Yellowstone and maybe we will end up doing something together,” the actor said. “He likes a lot of the things that I like, and the idea of us working together is not out of the question for me. The subjects he chooses are very interesting to me.”