The most notable surprise no-shows at a sold-out "Yellowstone" PaleyFest fan event on Saturday night were "Yellowstone" actor Kevin Costner and "Yellowstone" creator Taylor Sheridan.
Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton), Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler), Luke Grimes (Kayce Dutton), Wes Bentley (Jamie Dutton), and Gil Birmingham (Thomas Rainwater) were some of the key cast members still listed on the Paleyfest 2023 festival ticket website for the April 1 (April Fools' Day) event, in addition to Costner (who plays patriarch John Dutton) and Sheridan. Nobody appeared.
An official from the Paramount Network named Keith Cox, actresses Mo Brings Plenty (Mo), Dawn Olivieri (Sarah Atwood), Josh Lucas (who portrays a younger John Dutton glimpsed in flashbacks), and Wendy Moniz were instead part of the new cast ushered onto the stage (Lynelle Perry).
In addition to being a much-anticipated fan event, the PaleyFest panel discussion had been advertised as the first chance to address rumors that Costner might be leaving "Yellowstone," following a February Deadline.com report that also suggested the international hit series could end "in spectacular fashion." However, the mass cast absences served only to fuel the fire.
Season 5's "Yellowstone" will return for the second half this summer after airing its midseason finale on Jan. 1.
Even the flimsy remark about Costner's return drew tremendous applause from the audience as Cox addressed the topic at hand during the PaleyFest event, saying he was "quite certain" that "the star, the face of our show" will "remain with the show."
The start of "Yellowstone" production, Cox continued, would be announced "soon," and he expressed confidence that the remaining season 5 episodes "will be great." That might have been more credible if Jamie Dutton, the deceitful "Yellowstone" lawyer, had said it.
During the Q&A session, irate audience members left the Dolby Theatre in a seat-popping number. Fans with Beth Dutton T-shirts and cowboy hats signed forms to gently request refunds from the concert, where even nosebleed tickets were $85 in the lobby.
Breaking things would have been Beth Dutton. Just a thought.
Jonathan Gucinski, a "Yellowstone" enthusiast from Los Angeles, told USA TODAY that he was "very upset." "That wasn't who I expected to see on the stage tonight. It was intended to be a happy occasion, but it turned into a farce."
No offense to the performers who were present, but @paleycenter should issue refunds for the @Yellowstone program tonight. Not a single person, not a single person, who was listed to be there was actually there, another fan tweeted.
Another fan wrote on Twitter: "Waste of money and effort @tylersheridan. They knew and yet broadcast an old episode and didn't give the audience a heads up.
Why Paramount Networks and "Yellowstone" failed to send the promised cast and crew to the fan gathering was not addressed by PaleyFest officials. "Scheduling disagreements" were highlighted by Variety.com as the cause.
