Taylor Sheridan Accused Of Stealing Yellowstone In New Paramount Lawsuit

Published Aug 22, 2026, 10:19 AM EDT Rianna is the Movie News Editor for ScreenRant. After earning her BA in Film Studies, she began her career as an entertainment writer, contributing to several publications before joining ScreenRant. Her dissertation on the impact of streaming on traditional cinema sharpened her focus on the ever-evolving world of film and media. With 10 years in the industry, Rianna continues to cover the stories she loves while also advocating for awareness and representation of rare disabilities, such as Moebius Syndrome, which she lives with. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Taylor Sheridan is in the hot seat for Yellowstone. Yellowstone began in 2018 and evolved from a rejected film script into a multi-billion television empire. It was previously stated that Sheridan pitched the series as a feature film titled The Godfather in Montana before landing with Paramount. Since its release, Yellowstone has grown tremendously, with multiple spinoffs and eye-watering ratings, as the entire franchise still dominates Paramount+ and Sheridan's name continues to grow in the entertainment world. TMZ has revealed a new lawsuit accusing Taylor Sheridan and Paramount of stealing the concept of Yellowstone from entertainment journalist Lauren J. Salkin. Salkin filed a federal lawsuit in California against several parties and claimed that in 2016 and 2017 she submitted a pilot script for a show titled Sovereign Nation and handed over additional materials to Sheridan's team. She later received correspondence from Elevate Entertainment confirming that the material was seen, but they stated, "Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he's unavailable for TV projects." However, within months of that polite denial, Paramount greenlit Sheridan's extremely popular series Yellowstone, which aired in 2018. Salkin claims the similarities between the two series are too coincidental. The copyright infringement lawsuit highlights that characters, storylines, and the overall tone of the series are eerily similar between Salkin's initial pilot and the final Yellowstone series. Salkin has requested an injunction to stop the show from potential ongoing and future infringement. Reps for Sheridan, Paramount, and NBCUniversal have yet to respond to the recent allegations. More to come...