"Daybreak" -- Academy Award winner Kevin Costner stars as John Dutton, patriarch of a Montana ranching family and owner of the largest ranch in the U.S. It's the story of Dutton's fight to defend his land and his family from the modern-day forces that threaten his way of life, as the critically acclaimed Paramount Network series YELLOWSTONE kicks off its broadcast run, Sunday, Sept. 17 (8:30 -- 10:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and will stream live on Paramount+ with Showtime.  Pictured: Kevin Costner as John Dutton.   Photo: Emerson Miller for Paramount
CNN  — 

Kevin Costner has left “Yellowstone,” and some viewers are not happy about it.

The actor, who played the patriarch John Dutton on the hit series, addressed some backlash over his character’s exit.

“Fans have a voice in things and they choose to follow stuff,” Costner told E! over the weekend.

Costner said he had earlier pitched “Yellowstone” on how to conclude his storyline, but the producers decided on the exact details of his character’s exit due to a gunshot wound.

“They do what they want to do,” he said. “That’s fine with me.”

Costner announced on social media in June that he would not be returning to “Yellowstone.”

“I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that’s required, and thinking about ‘Yellowstone,’ that beloved series that I love, that I know you love,” Costner said at the time. “I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5b or into the future.”

Instead, he had been working on a multi-part film series, the first of which “Horizon: An American Saga,” was released over the summer.

A planned second installment that has been postponed.

Costner told E! he’s still working on what will happen next.

“I’m gonna try to figure that out,” he said with a laugh. “I make these things, I will figure out how to get it to an audience.”