On April 1, a Yellowstone ruckus surfaced after angry fans lashed out due to spending $100+ on Paleyfest tickets, only to have none of the advertised parties attend the Los Angeles event. Taylor Sheridan, Kevin Costner, Wes Bentley, and Kelly Reilly were all listed on the event’s website to be in attendance, and then at the last minute, both journalists and fans found out that they actually weren’t going to be attending (as reported by Variety) “due to scheduling conflicts.”
No one knew who was to blame for the mishap or crossed wires, but fans were understandably steamed and demanding refunds, and some of them traveled great distances as well. It also didn’t help matters that the show had already been subject to rumors of a rift between Sheridan and Costner, along with reports that Costner could be departing the franchise. Additionally, no updates have surfaced this far on filming for the back half of Season 5, which hadn’t started as of April 1 (this was confirmed by the attending Paleyfest panel), but now, one star has spoken out about why she didn’t attend.
On Instagram (you can see the post here), Kelly Reilly (who portrays one half of Beth and Rip, a favorite couple of Jennifer Lopez) shared a photo of herself and Succession star Brian Cox, her “legend” co-star for Little Wing, a film for Paramount+. In response to a questions on her April 1 whereabouts, Reilly wrote, “I was filming in the UK at the time, and let them know in January I wouldn’t be able to attend. I was sorry to hear my name was still on the list of attendees, as it is unfair to our fans.”
In response, the fan claimed to have spoken “to Paleys 2 days ago, and they said they were blindsided at the very last minute.” As well, the fan revealed that they’d spent a lot more than $100 for this event: “I had paid $1000 for a membership so that I could join the cast at the reception afterwards,” but at least they were able to secure a refund.
Alls well that ends well for this fan, although most parties have been oddly quiet on this matter. Perhaps we’ll hear more down the line from Costner or Sheridan (the continued silence has not quelled the aforementioned rumors of drama between them), but for now, at least one absence has been explained.