Taylor Sheridan sued by writer who claims he stole her ‘Yellowstone’ idea

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Key points

• The series, which aired its fifth and final season in 2024 on Paramount+, starred Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser and Wes Bentley, among others.
• Per the outlet, Salkin claims she submitted a pilot script entitled "Sovereign Nation, " along with supporting materials, to Sheridan's production firm between 2016 and 2017.
• Salkin alleges it was a matter of months before "Yellowstone" obtained the green light, subsequently debuting in 2018 and spawning an entire universe of indicates.
• Reps for Sheridan, Paramount and NBCUniversal did not immediately respond to Page Six's requests for comment Friday evening.
• Sheridan has created clear he has no love lost for studio executives or critics, telling "The Bill Simmons Podcast" in June, "F-k 'em, honestly."

Taylor Sheridan is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit after a writer asserted he lifted the general concept for his hit series "Yellowstone" from her work.

According to documents obtained by TMZ Friday, TV writer and entertainment journalist Lauren J. Salkin is suing Sheridan, along with NBCUniversal and Paramount, over what she claims is her idea.

As she claims to have received an acknowledgement from Elevate Entertainment stating, "Taylor thanks you particularly much for your interest, according to the documents, Salkin argues the materials did land on Sheridan's desk. Unfortunately, he's unavailable for TV projects."

Characters, storylines and the overall tone are among the similarities between her work and "Yellowstone, " Salkin is claiming, with the outlet noting that she included a breakdown of each character in her documents. Want more celebrity and pop culture news? Start your day with Page Six Daily.

According to TMZ, Salkin has asked for an injunction to stop the show from potential ongoing – and future – copyright infringement. Though unspecified in amount, would include profits from the high-profile series, she's additionally asking for damages, which.

For context, the series, which aired its fifth and final season in 2024 on Paramount+, starred Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser and Wes Bentley, among others. The series has since inspired spinoffs including "1883, " "1923, " "Marshals" and "Dutton Ranch."

In a July interview with Joe Blow, Sheridan asserted that his "Yellowstone" career was actually inspired by both the book and miniseries of "Lonesome Dove, " which he stumbled upon while in college.

"I said, 'I want to do that, '" Sheridan recalled. "I don't know what that is, but that's what I want to do."

"Yellowstone's the punk rock me, " he continued, joking that the show "has no plot."

"There's a lot of defiance in the way I do it, " he remarked. " it's not surprising the critics hate it. It's designed for them to hate."

Taken together, the developments around taylor Sheridan sued by writer who claims he stole her 'Yellowstone' idea point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.