WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Yellowstone.
Yellowstone will be returning for season five part two later this year, but this time there will be no Sheriff Donnie Haskell (played by Hugh Dillon) in sight.
In season four, episode eight, No Kindness for the Coward, there is trouble when armed robbers invade the diner with John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) inside.
The pair were able to take out the thieves, but before they were defeated, Donnie was caught in the crossfire and fatally shot.
He was speaking on the phone to his daughter as the incident unfolded so it is thought that she heard what occurred.
Donnie died with John by his side, leaving the veteran cowboy devastated, as well as Paramount Network fans.
Why did Hugh Dillon leave Yellowstone as Donnie Haskell?
Yellowstone’s Donnie Haskell star Hugh Dillon had to leave the Western drama because work had to begin on his and Taylor Sheridan’s new show Mayor of Kingstown.
They had been working on the project for 10 years together but had to wait for the script to be picked up by a network before it could be brought to life.
In the meantime, Sheridan cast Dillon in Yellowstone as the town’s trusted Sheriff.
But when Paramount+ gave the green light, it was time for Donnie to be written out of the show.
Talking to Comicbook.com, Dillon clarified: “[Sheridan said] ‘Okay, we’ve sold Mayor, you’re gonna learn how to produce it. You gotta listen to me, you gotta trust me and I’m there.’
“And he goes, ‘And I wrote you an honorable death in Yellowstone and then you’re gonna move right into Mayor.’
“And this was during the pandemic. So he’s like, ‘You got to drive to Texas right now, I don’t want to hear anything except the sound of the engine. And you calling me from your car.’
“I’m like, I’m doing it, drove to Texas, we wrote the rest of Mayor and we shot that death scene for Yellowstone, and then I was producing and it’s just been a blur ever since.”
The epic prison drama Mayor of Kingstown went down a storm with subscribers.
It was quickly renewed for a second outing which started airing in January 2023.
As of yet though, Mayor of Kingstown hasn’t been renewed for a third season.
Yellowstone is available to watch on Peacock and Paramount Network.