Kevin Costner slams ‘Yellowstone’ producers for ‘bulls–t’ drama, contract dispute: ‘I have taken a beating from those f–king guys’

John Dutton is taking a stand.

Kevin Costner, 69, has finally broken his silence about his rumored feud with “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan, and his departure from the hit show in its fifth and final season.

“I have taken a beating from those f – – king guys, and I know a lot of times where it’s coming from. I just elected not to get into that. But if you know me well enough, I made ‘Yellowstone’ the first priority, and to insinuate anything else would be wrong. I did not initiate any of those things. They did,” Costner told Deadline in an interview published on Monday.

Costner was referring to the behind-the-scenes strife on the hit Paramount ranch drama, which follows his character John Dutton, and his adult children, including Kayce (Luke Grimes), Jamie (Wes Bentley), Beth (Kelly Reilly) and his son-in-law, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).

In May 2023, news broke that Costner would not return to “Yellowstone” after Season 5. (This was before Paramount said that Season 5 would be the show’s last.) That same month, it was announced that the show would end with Season 5, leading to speculation that the show was ending in part because Costner was leaving.

There were also reports that Costner refused to be on set filming for more than one week for the second half of Season 5, which Costner’s attorney denied.

The first half of Season 5 finished in January 2023. The final episodes are scheduled to air at an unspecified date in the fall.

Meanwhile, Costner has been filming his epic western movie “Horizon,” a passion project that he put his own money into. The film hits theaters June 28.

“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan told the Hollywood Reporter in June, referring to “Horizon.”

Sheridan’s account made it sound like Costner was prioritizing “Horizon” over “Yellowstone.”

“He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with ‘Yellowstone.’ I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did,” the creator said.

Sheridan added, “Once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin, and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus … I sure hope [the movie is] worth it.”

Now, Costner is speaking out and telling his side.

“I will address it,” he told Deadline.

“I didn’t have to answer the slings and arrows over the last year and a half, because I’ve just been busy working. They’ve been pretty slick about keeping their hands off; nobody was ever on the record.”

Costner said that “Yellowstone” had “first position” in his list of priorities. “I didn’t do ‘Horizon’ because I was tired of doing ‘Yellowstone.’ That’s a bulls – – t story. I didn’t do ‘Horizon’ to compete with ‘Yellowstone.’ This [project] is something I’ve had a long time,” he said.

Costner said he hasn’t “felt good about it the last year,” and added that ongoing speculation about what was happening “wasn’t truthful.”

He added, “And I don’t know why they didn’t stick up for me.”

The “Waterworld” star said that he had negotiated a contract for three more seasons — 5, 6 and 7 — but the powers that be “made another contract” which turned into Season 5A and 5B.

His movie “Horizon” was supposed to “fit into the gaps” between filming “Yellowstone,” but, he said, “They just kept moving their gaps.”

When he was asked if filming “Horizon” cut into his time filming “Yellowstone,” Costner said, “That’s not true. That’s a lie. That’s not correct. They sent me away for seven days to go to London, to go to England during COVID, to do [promotion]. They made the contract, and they picked the days.”

Costner said that he “lived up” to the contract he signed.

“I gave them 25 of my days for this B thing in November and December [2022]. What they called 5B,” he said. “The whole month of March [2023]. I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script. And then things imploded.”

But, the problem was that there were “no scripts” for the final stretch of “Yellowstone” episodes, he alleged.

“I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes,” he said.

“I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10.”

After that, he offered “a week” to the show, he said.

“I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said, ‘I’ll do that.’ And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week,” Costner added.

“Do you think that’s who I am? I’ve never missed a day of work. I’ve never left before fulfilling my contractual obligations,” the Hollywood vet stated.

“A lot of times, I stay as much as I can. In fact, I worked the nine-day stretch just to try to help them in July [2022], when I was starting [Horizon] August 1. I worked a Saturday and Sunday for them, and they still needed four more days. I gave it to them when I thought we were going to do this so-called B, but there was no B thing.”

Costner attributed the show’s long delay to the lack of scripts.

“It all happened because they shut down one whole season, didn’t tell anybody, and I didn’t work for 14 months,” he said. “And they wrote these other three shows,” he said, referring to the “Yellowstone” spinoffs, “1883,” starring Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, “1923” starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, and “1944,” which hasn’t premiered yet.

“They don’t ever talk about that,” Costner said. “And all they did was remember we were releasing the series in June, then it moved to October. They covered by changing their release pattern. That time was about a 14-month period. I said, ‘I can’t ever go through that again, where you shut down for over a year, and I don’t have something in line to do.’ All I did was protect myself.”

He added, “I was straight up with [Taylor Sheridan], and he said what we would do, and I believed him and we didn’t get there.”

Despite all the strife, Costner said that he’s open to returning to “Yellowstone.”

“If the writing’s there and I’m happy with it, I’m open to that. But I took a beating over these guys not speaking up for me and allowing crazy stories to come out,” he said.

“I’m not happy about that. But if the writing is there, I will be there, too. It’s just that simple: Paramount and 101 Studios mismanaged this,” Costner said. “They had me for 5, 6, and 7. I agreed to do it. And then they steadily began changing their format.”

The Post reached out to reps for “Yellowstone” and Paramount for comment.