What Happened at the Yellowstone PaleyFest Panel?

Photo: Paramount/YouTube

Yellowstone did not appear to have all its li’l doggies in a row at this year’s PaleyFest. Stars Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley, Gil Birmingham, and Jacki Weaver, as well as creator Taylor Sheridan and executive producer David Glasser, were all scheduled to attend the panel celebrating the great hope of linear television. None of those people wound up attending. Instead, four actors from the show (Josh Lucas, Wendy Moniz, Mo Brings Plenty, and Dawn Olivieri) were joined by Paramount Network development president Keith Cox. Cox threw the audience a bone, however. When asked by moderator Lynette Rice about Costner’s status on the show, Cox said, “What I can say is that our star, the face of our show, and our executive producer, are very confident he is going to continue with our show.” He added, “We’re about to announce the next season soon.” But when the actor panelists were quizzed, all said they had no idea when they were returning to work.

The Yellowstone PaleyFest audience reacted poorly to the news that their beloved Duttons were nowhere to be seen. Crowd members shouted things at the panel, such as “Where are they?!” Many audience members walked out and demanded refunds from the PaleyFest staff. The screening before the panel already endured lots of rowdy audience interjections, with people shouting out condemnation of Jamie Dutton’s latest romantic entanglement. “Don’t do it, Jamie!” one crowd member shouted to peals of laughter throughout the Dolby Theatre. Every time a Dutton appeared onscreen, the crowd went wild. If only they’d been there IRL, too.