'Yellowstone' creator Taylor Sheridan sued by writer alleging he stole her idea

A writer is suing Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, alleging he stole the idea for the show from a project she'd spent more than 10 years developing.

Lauren J. Salkin alleges that the hit drama series bears striking similarities to a script she pitched to Sheridan's team in 2016 and 2017, sharing "specific expressive choices," according to the lawsuit filed Friday and reviewed by TheWrap , Variety and the Independent . The suit also names 101 Studios, Paramount Global, NBCUniversal and other companies behind the show as defendants.

Yahoo News has reached out to Sheridan's representatives for comment.

Salkin says she submitted a completed pilot script for her own show, Sovereign Nation , along with a series bible and pitch deck, to Sheridan's representatives at Elevate Entertainment. The complaint describes Sovereign Nation as a "dramatic television series centered on tribal governance, casino-driven economic power and a modern war over land and development."

Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in Montana, as they navigate conflicts over land with developers, a neighboring Native American reservation and other parties.

Yellowstone ran for six years, from 2018 to 2024, becoming a massive hit for Paramount Network. Its star, Kevin Costner, won a Golden Globe for his role. The show has spawned four spinoffs; its latest, Dutton Ranch , was released in May. Three more spinoffs are in development.

Salkin's suit states that Sheridan's representatives told her he "thanks you very much for your interest," but "unfortunately, he's unavailable for TV projects," and that Paramount greenlighted Yellowstone just months later.

Salkin also says she met with a senior HBO executive who had reviewed her Sovereign Nation pitch. According to TheWrap 's account of the lawsuit, Salkin says the executive later told her HBO had rejected a Sheridan pitch for Yellowstone in spring 2017 because of its similarities to her work.

According to Variety , the suit states: "When the works are objectively compared, the same coordinated design repeatedly appears: casino-centered institutions organize political power; the same unusual land-development mechanisms propel the conflict; parallel scenes perform the same dramatic functions; and the same actors appear in materially parallel roles.

"These are not merely convergences of a shared genre. Taken together with access and timing, they support a strong inference of copying."

Speaking to Yahoo News, Salkin's attorney Paul B. Lackey said: "Obviously, it was not an easy decision for an individual screenwriter to decide to take on the titans of the entertainment industry.

"She has watched the exploitation of her hard work for too long and decided that enough was enough. We will now hold them accountable."

Salkin's lawyers also claim she suggested actors Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham, who appeared in Yellowstone , in her pitch deck.

Sheridan had worked with Birmingham on two films: Hell or High Water (2016) and Wind River , which was filmed in March and April 2016, several months before Salkin submitted her pitch to Elevate in late 2016 and early 2017.

Salkin is seeking an injunction against the continued use of her work, along with unspecified damages and profits tied to the alleged infringement. She has also requested a jury trial, according to HollywoodLife .

Sheridan has previously given his own account of the origins of Yellowstone . In 2023, he told the Hollywood Reporter that he pitched the project to HBO as a movie — The Godfather in Montana — before it evolved into the series that aired on Paramount Network.