It’s official: Kevin Costner won’t be returning to “Yellowstone” for the present’s closing episodes.Costner introduced his departure Thursday in a social media video. His message got here on the identical day that Paramount Community mentioned the final episodes of “Yellowstone” would begin airing Nov. 10.The actor, who recorded his video standing exterior in entrance of a hedge, started by saying he needed to “attain out” to followers following “this lengthy 12 months and a half of engaged on ‘Horizon,’” his formidable movie venture.Costner then addressed “Yellowstone,” calling it “that beloved collection that I like, that I do know you’re keen on,” and mentioned he “simply realized that I’m not going to have the ability to proceed Season 5B or into the longer term.”The actor added that doing the present “actually modified me.”“I cherished it and I do know you really liked it, and I simply needed to let that I gained’t be returning,” he mentioned. “I’ll see you on the films.”Costner’s exit from the favored TV drama, which is about to conclude with Season 5, has lengthy been rumored. Again in February 2023, Deadline reported that he solely needed to spend a single week taking pictures the ultimate episodes, although Costner later disputed this account.The actor has lately been targeted on “Horizon: An American Saga,” a Western epic in 4 elements — the primary of which is about to open in theaters June 28.A Paramount Community spokesperson informed HuffPost that Costner was “a giant a part of ’Yellowstone’s’ success” and the community had hoped to proceed working with him.“Sadly, we couldn’t discover a window that labored for him, all the opposite expertise and our manufacturing wants so as to transfer ahead collectively,” the spokesperson mentioned. “We respect that Kevin has prioritized his new movie collection, and we want him the perfect.”