Former Yellowstone stars have broken their silence on Kelsey Asbille’s character, Monica, being killed off the Marshals spinoff.
Paramount Network’s Yellowstone, which aired from 2018 to 2024, introduced Us to Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica, who remained at the middle of the show until the finale. After teaching at a neighborhood school on the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, Monica went on to turn out to be a professor at Montana State University while navigating life with Kayce, who moved them back to the Yellowstone Ranch following his past tension with dad John (Kevin Costner).
Following John’s death, Kayce, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, became the brand new owner and operator of the Yellowstone Ranch. Kayce and Monica ended the show alive — and were still together — before Marshals began.
When the series premiered in March 2026, fans were shocked to learn that Monica died after battling cancer.
“The unique conversation was that it must be something [that happens to Kayce in the series premiere]. There was the considered, ‘Possibly we discover him and he’s just bored because he was protecting his family and was a Navy SEAL, so then actually a peaceful life is just not for him, which is a path,’” Marshals showrunner Spencer Hudnut told The Hollywood Reporter concerning the motivation behind the brand new spinoff. “But probably not a satisfying enough path for Kayce. Then, truthfully, as we were attempting to figure it out, Monica was not certainly one of the ingredients that was available to me.”
Hudnut clarified that he didn’t speak with Asbille before it was decided that Monica could be written off, adding, “No, I wasn’t a part of any of that, so I can’t really speak to how or why that played out the best way it did. But when that happened, it cleared up what that thing was for Kayce.”
He continued: “And I believe the best way we’ve done it, my goal was to not undermine that journey in Yellowstone because they do have [the dream] — she says, “It is a dream come true” at the tip of it. They did achieve that. They did get what they finally wanted, and, unfortunately, life just intervened and disrupted every little thing that Kayce wanted. In order that’s where we discover him in Marshals.”
Hudnut also noted that Asbille was “unavailable for the brand new series,” sharing, “When that happened, it cleared up what that thing was for Kayce [that would drive him].”
“It wasn’t like Luke and I were sitting there saying, ‘We should always kill Monica,’” he continued. “It was more like, ‘If she’s not available for this, then what’s one of the best solution to move on from that character within the least exploitive way?’”
Grimes defended the narrative decision, but he wasn’t the one alum to talk out. Keep scrolling to see what the Yellowstone solid has said about Monica’s shocking death:
Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser
Reilly and Hauser were asked about whether the events on Dutton Ranch happened before or after the timeline currently going down on Luke Grimes’ spinoff show Marshals. Reilly clarified that the hearth at first of Dutton Ranch likely happened after Kayce (Grimes) mourned his wife’s death.
“I believe that happened before our show began in a story world,” Reilly told TV Insider in July 2026. “I imagine Beth and Rip had gone to Monica’s [funeral], that there was some connection and our story began after that.”
The duo noted that as a result of timing, Monica’s (Kelsey Asbille) death couldn’t be addressed in season 1 of Dutton Ranch, with Reilly added, “But I might absolutely imagine that there’ll be some checking in on her brother and we just didn’t see it this yr.”
Reilly referred to it as a “missed opportunity.”
“But we’re all each trying to begin up these big shows. And I believe we will see where there are gaps and we see where things needed to be fixed. And that’s what you get the chance to do in a season 2,” she continued. “You get to return and go, ‘OK, we will do that one in a different way. We are able to make this higher. We are able to deal with that.’ And I believe we have already got our list of things in all our individual minds: Christina Voros, Taylor Sheridan, our producers, our recent showrunner [Benjamin Cavell]. So I’m looking forward to stepping into that, and so we will make one of the best show we will.”
Luke Grimes
After the series premiere, Luke Grimes called the event a surprise, telling Entertainment Weekly in March 2026, “I used to be in no way expecting that once I got the decision that that’s their idea. And I felt two things concurrently. One was I used to be incredibly bummed because Kelsey’s certainly one of my really good friends and the good actor I’ve ever worked with. We’re really close, and for some time I couldn’t imagine doing it without her. I used to be like, ‘That doesn’t even make sense. Kayce and Monica are the identical thing. They’re one.’ But I also realized, well, there’s an enormous story there.”
Grimes defended the necessity for a narrative shakeup.
“The best way that Yellowstone ended for Kayce was literally he rode off into the sunset. Obviously, we will’t just watch this guy have his dream life. There’s no drama,” he continued. “Something’s gonna must occur that gets in the best way of him having that. Otherwise, why is he gonna take a badge? The last time we saw him, he was throwing a badge in a field. Is he gonna go pick it up?”
Mo Brings Plenty
Mo Brings Plenty, who reprised his role as Mo on Marshals, was shocked by Monica’s death.
“Boy. At first, I used to be like, ‘Why?!’ Because that was our connection to the Duttons,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2026. “There’s at all times been a connection between the Dutton family and Broken Rock, but Monica was more of a connection. So to lose that, at first, my response was like, ‘No.’”
The actor acknowledged that creator Spencer Hudnut needed to “tell a story,” saying, “And the blessing of that occurring is that Kayce [Dutton] has to fill that void now. In order that connection continues to be there.”
He continued: “Not only for the incontrovertible fact that Rainwater adopted and took him in as a brother, but I believe the soldiers that Mo and Kayce are, that brotherhood has at all times been there, but it surely’s turn out to be even stronger.”
Kelsey Asbille
Luke Grimes revealed in March 2026 that he previously “worked up the courage” to call Kelsey Asbille to inform her about Monica’s onscreen death.
“We had an amazing conversation,” he told TVLine on the time. “In true Kelsey fashion, she handled it like a professional and totally understood.”
Asbille, for her part, has yet to personally speak out about her character being killed off.