Kevin Costner “doesn’t want to get down in the gutter” with ‘Yellowstone’ rumors, insists show was his “priority”

In a chat with Deadline at the Cannes International Film Festival, where the first installment of his mostly self-funded Western epic Horizon: An American Saga will debut on May 19, Kevin Costner talked about his future — and past — with Yellowstone.

In a frank discussion with the trade’s Mike Fleming, Costner insisted he didn’t interfere with Yellowstone‘s shooting schedule in order to make Horizon, as rumors suggested he had.

“Well, I haven’t felt good about it the last year, what with the way they’ve talked about it. It wasn’t truthful,” Costner vented.

“So now I’m talking about a little bit about what the real truth of it was. I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven,” the Oscar winner said.

“In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six.”

He continued, “They weren’t able to make those. Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps.”

Costner added, “I don’t want to get down in the gutter with the Yellowstone thing but what I’m telling you is straight up. I have taken a beating from those f****** guys and … 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.”

He added, seemingly talking about the folks behind Paramount Network’s smash series, “I don’t know why they didn’t stick up for me” amid the rumors.

To Entertainment Tonight in April, Costner said he’d “love” to return to see his John Dutton off into the sunset.