Luke Grimes said he hasn’t talked to Kevin Costner since his departure from Yellowstone earlier this year, but “it’s not a case of any hard feelings.”

Costner shared a video on Instagram over the summer to confirm that he would not return to the Western drama for the second half of season 5. He said at that time that he’d been “working on [Horizon: An American Saga],” and realized “that I’m not going to be able to continue season 5b or into the future. It was something that really changed me. I loved it, and I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”

Grimes said in an interview with Men’s Health, published on Monday (December 16), that he hasn’t talked to Costner since his exit from the show.

“No, I haven’t talked to him since. It’s not a case of any hard feelings or anything; it’s just, he’s Kevin Costner,” Grimes told Men’s Health with a laugh. “He’s a big deal. I do have his phone number—I just don’t feel like it’s my place to reach out. He can reach out to me if he wants to.

“None of us saw it coming the way it did, and obviously there was news about possible blowups behind the scenes or whatever. But just like in life, man, these things happen, they happen fast, and they’re not predictable. I lost my father a few years ago. It happened fast, and it was not the way that you would think that that would happen. In life, these things happen and then people have to start making decisions. And in our little Yellowstone world, that helped ramp the show up into a boil.”

Yellowstone viewers quickly learned Costner’s character’s fate during the season premiere last month. Costner shared his reaction in an interview.

The Taylor Sheridan-created show made its debut in 2018. Costner and Grimes starred in the epic series, alongside Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille and others. Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson also made her acting debut on the show, and returned for the finale that aired on Sunday evening (December 15).

Amy James