14 Biggest 'Yellowstone' Offscreen Controversies Through the Years

by

November 8, 2024 at 5:47pm EST

• Kevin Costner’s Exit

  Image Credit: Brenton Ho/Variety via Getty Images

  The news that Costner would be written out of the show after contract negotiations reportedly broke down left fans shocked at the idea of Yellowstone continuing without John Dutton.

  Per Katie Couric Media, the show’s final season clashed with Costner’s filming schedule for his movie Horizon but there have also been rumors of a brewing feud between Costner and the show’s showrunner and director Taylor Sheridan.

  Costner later revealed that the decision to break the show’s fifth season into two parts conflicted with his schedule but what really turned him against the showrunners was the spreading of rumors that he refused to work for more than one week. 

  “My big disappointment is I never heard Paramount or 101 really come to my defense and say, ‘That’s not true. He was going to do three more seasons… That’s really f–— bothered me, that none of them would actually try to set the record straight.”

  Sheridan has also been open about the challenge of ending Yellowstone without its main character. 

  “It truncates the closure of his character,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter of Costner’s departure in June 2023. “It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”

  “I don’t do f– you car crashes,” Sheridan said of John’s future. “Whether [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”

• Cole Hauser’s Coffee Company

  Image Credit: David Buchan/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images

  In November, after Cole Hauser launched his coffee brand Free Rein, The Los Angeles Times revealed that his company was being sued by a company owned by Yellowstone showrunner Taylor Sheridan. 

  Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch accused Hauser’s brand of “trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising” due to the similarities between their branding.

  A month later, in January 2024, Sheridan dropped the case, per MRT. 

• Kelsey Asbille’s Heritage

  Image Credit: Cam McLeod / ©Paramount Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

  For those who don’t know, Kelsey Asbille plays the Native American character Monica in Yellowstone and identified herself as having Cherokee descent back in 2017. A year later, she claimed she was “Chinese, English, and Cherokee,” per W. Producer Sonny Skyhawk then questioned this since the Cherokee Nation’s Tribal Enrollment Office had no record of her.

  Per their website, they process “Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB), Dawes and Tribal Citizenship applications and issues CDIB, Citizenship, and Photo ID cards,” and Skyhawk had fans question after this detail came out.

  She’s never publicly discussed this finding.

• Christine Baumgartner & Kevin Costner’s Messy Divorce

  Image Credit: Rich Polk/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images

  Christine Baumgartner and Kevin Costner were together for nearly 20 years until Baumgartner filed for divorce in May of 2023. Their divorce consistently made headlines with bitter details such as splitting up the house, assets, child support payments, and the Yellowstone drama.

  “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action,” Costner’s rep said in a statement to TMZ at the time. “We ask that his, Christine’s, and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time.”

  They finalized their divorce in Sept 2023.

• Scheduling Conflicts at PaleyFest

  Image Credit: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection

  Fans were quite displeased when numerous cast members dropped out of Paleyfest. Kevin Costner, Taylor, Sheridan, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham and Jacki Weaver all dropped out last minute due to “scheduling conflicts.”

  In attendance instead, were Josh Lucas, Wendy Moniz, Mo Brings Plenty and Dawn Olivieri took their place.

  In addition to a panel with the few actors, the event also included a special screening. During that, fans were just as disappointed as it was just a rerun of the series’ most recent episode.

• Luke Grimes’ Career Shift

  Image Credit: CJ Rivera/Everett Collection

  Many were shocked when Luke Grimes exited True Bloods after a few episodes, especially since many liked his character. But he left the show and joined Yellowstone soon after.

  Despite the show creators saying he left for creative differences, and his team backing that up, BuzzFeed reported that he was uncomfortable playing a bisexual character who would later have a same-sex romance with Nelsan Ellis’s character Lafayette.

  “You quit your job because … really?” Ellis said of his reaction in 2014. “I’m just… I’m over him. You quit your job because you don’t want to play a gay part? As if it’s … You know what? I’m going to stop talking.”

• Q’orianka Kilcher’s Disability Fraud Controversy

  Image Credit: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection

  Q’orianka Kilcher, who plays Angela Blue Thunder in Yellowstone, was charged with workers’ compensation fraud in July 2022 and was subsequently accused of collecting more than $90,000 in disability benefits. In February 2023, the charges were dropped.

  “Today, I am beyond grateful that my case has been dismissed — tomorrow my journey begins to help raise awareness and demand more transparency for worker’s rights within the workers comp system,” she said in a statement after the case was dismissed. “I want to thank my family, friends, fans and fellow industry peers whose support has kept me going. I look forward to shedding more light on this experience and continuing to do the work I love.”

• The Never-Ending Production Delays

  Image Credit: ©Paramount Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

  While some claimed Kevin Costner was the reason for the delays, in May 2023, an insider told Us Weekly that the production “holdup” was outside of the actor’s control. The SAG-AFTRA strike probably played a major hand in it, along with balancing other actors’ schedules since there had been a long time between seasons. 

• Worry Over the Animal Living Conditions

  Image Credit: Cam McLeod / ©Paramount Network / Courtesy Everett Collection.

  Many activists including PETA were alarmed at the animal living conditions on set after a whistleblower came forward with Yellowstone using a mutilated cow as a prop. 

  “[A]s the sun came up and the temperature increased, we knew right away that it was not a prop,” they told PETA. “We knew that it was real. We began to smell the realness of this freshly dead carcass that had been mutilated in its hindquarters and in its neck, with flies and bees going in and out of the eyes, the nose, the nostrils, the mouth. It’s terribly heartbreaking.”

  As a result, the organization asked viewers to not tune in.

  “Because Yellowstone producers deliberately chose to use the bodies of real cows instead of accessible alternatives—and have failed to explain how a cow ended up mutilated or commit to using only props in the future—PETA is encouraging kind people to tune out for season two,” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement. “No animal, dead or alive, deserves to be exploited for entertainment, and we hope this new video and whistleblower portal will inspire others who witness such exploitation to come forward.”

• Taylor Sheridan’s Stance on Donald Trump

  Image Credit: JA/Everett Collection

  Before Yellowstone premiered, Taylor Sheridan blasted former president Donald Trump. “Can we just impeach that motherf— right now?” Sheridan supposedly said. “Like what are we — I don’t understand … It’s just, it’s so embarrassing.”

  Years later, he stepped back on that stance and said he didn’t “recall” saying those things, per The Wrap.

• Plagiarism Accusations

  Image Credit: ©Paramount Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

  While we now know Costner and Sheridan butted heads when they worked together, Costner took things further in May 2024 when he suggested that Yellowstone and his movie Horizon may share some uncanny similarities. 

  “I don’t know if there’s any duplications there,” Costner told IndieWire. “Whether he borrowed something, only he’d have to admit to.”

• Kelly Reilly’s Alleged Off-Set Behavior with Cast Members

  Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Paramount Network

  Insiders told RadarOnline that Kelly Reilly was allegedly standoffish to almost everyone on set, except for Kevin Costner, and that she allegedly refused to do joint interviews with the rest of the cast to stay private.

  “Her costars were pretty turned off by her attitude,” the source said. 

• Sam Elliott’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ Criticisms

  Image Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

  1883 star Sam Elliott found himself in hot water after criticizing the Oscar-winning movie The Power of the Dog during a 2022 podcast. He described the film as a “piece of sh-t” and criticized its “allusions of homosexuality.”

  He also commented on New Zealand-born filmmaker Jane Campion’s suitability to make a Western, asking: “What the f— does this woman from down there know about the American West?” 

  He later apologized for the comments.

  “I wasn’t very articulate about it. I didn’t articulate it very well,” Elliott told Deadline. “And I said some things that hurt people and I feel terrible about that. The gay community has been incredible to me my entire career. I’m sorry I hurt any of those friends and someone that I loved. And anyone else by the words that I used.”

• The ‘Tulsa King’ Comments

  Image Credit: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

  In late 2022, Costner’s longtime assistant Glenn Kleczkowski posted a scathing review of Sheridan’s new mobster show, Tulsa King. “Stick to westerns, bro,” he wrote, per Puck News. “You don’t know S— about THIS life. Stay in your lane, country boy. I’m actually embarrassed for you as a writer and creator.”