The Biggest Taylor Sheridan Controversies, Explained
As with his Yellowstone characters, Taylor Sheridan can be tricky to pin down. To some, Sheridan is a storyteller for populist masses unimpressed by prestige television, whose profitability makes him a hot commodity in Hollywood. To others, he’s a controlling TV producer with questionable casting practices, worse writing, and an ego the size of Dutton Ranch.
On his way to cable TV dominance, Sheridan has certainly rankled viewers, critics, and even actors. He even had a legal tussle with one of his Yellowstone stars, whose name — surprise, surprise — is not Kevin Costner. His lawsuit against Yellowstone star Cole HauserApparently, Cole Hauser’s coffee venture left a bad taste in his Yellowstone boss’s mouth. In December 2023, Sheridan sued the actor, who was starring as Rip Wheeler on Yellowstone at the time, in the Northern District of Texas Federal Court. The suit claimed the logo of Hauser’s Free Rein coffee company too closely resembled that of Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch, which had its own coffee product.Specifically, the suit alleged “trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising,” complaining that the logo was “confusingly similar to the BR Brand for virtually identical goods” and “irreparably damaging to Bosque Ranch” and alleging that Free Rein was trying to “mistake or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association” with the ranch, per The Hollywood Reporter.
