Kevin Costner explains why he exited from 'Yellowstone'

The actor, Kevin Costner, is explaining why he left Yellowstone.

The 68-year-old actor gave testimony on Friday in Santa Barbara, California at a hearing on child support related to his ongoing divorce from his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner. On the witness stand, he said that his decision to leave the Paramount Network series was the result of a "long, hard-fought negotiation" about breaking season 5 into two parts.

Costner claimed that filming Yellowstone twice a year interfered with his need to concentrate on his Western epic, the four-part television series Horizon: An American Saga. To film the first episode of season 5, Costner claimed he "changed" his schedule, adding, "That's a big deal in this world."

He stated that at the time, "they still hadn't finished" the first half of season 5 and that "no scripts had been written" for the second half. He was scheduled to collect $12 million for each episode of Season 5, but they tried the "pay or play" strategy and it didn't work.

Costner swore that he desired to return for the sixth season of the Western series but “I couldn’t help them anymore. We tried to negotiate, they offered me less money than previous seasons, there were issues with the creative…”

Before finally walking away, the actor said he made one last attempt to come back and told his representatives “Have them pay me whatever number, we came up with a number, and they [Yellowstone] walked away.”

On the witness stand, he stated that he thought the amount was $12 million.

“I’ve been told it’s a little disappointing that [it’s] the #1 show on TV, I’m not participating,” he added.

When asked if he would get paid for the second installment of Yellowstone season 5, he replied, "I will probably go to court over it."