Taylor Sheridan is facing a new lawsuit from television writer Lauren J. Salkin, who alleges the creator turned her original idea into the blockbuster Western drama Yellowstone.
Salkin filed the copyright infringement complaint against Sheridan, 56, on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The lawsuit names Sheridan, his management company Elevate Entertainment, Paramount and NBCUniversal among the defendants, along with several other parties.
According to the complaint, Salkin claims she submitted a pilot, series concept, storylines and pitch deck for a project titled Sovereign Nation to representatives for Sheridan at Elevate Entertainment in late 2016 and early 2017.
In the filing, obtained and reviewed by Our News Outlet, Salkin describes Sovereign Nation as a “dramatic television series centered on tribal governance, casino-driven economic power, and a modern war over land and development.”
Salkin’s lead attorney, Paul B. Lackey, told Our News Outlet in a statement Saturday: “This is a classic David versus Goliath situation. She spent years putting together the specific and multi-layered framework for a story that has become the biggest streaming success of all time. She has watched the vast commercial success of this story that was stolen from her and decided that enough was enough. We will do everything in our power to get her justice.”
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Sheridan, Elevate Entertainment, NBCUniversal and Paramount seeking comment.
Taylor Sheridan, pictured in June, is being sued by writer Lauren J. Salkin, who claims he used her idea as the basis for Yellowstone
The series was led by Kevin Costner from 2018-2024
Salkin alleges that on February 1, 2017, the company informed her that Sheridan had passed on her idea.
According to her lawsuit, the correspondence specifically stated: ‘Taylor thanks you very much for your interest. Unfortunately, he’s unavailable for TV projects.’
The complaint further alleges that Paramount greenlit Yellowstone ‘within months’ of rejecting her pitch.
In her complaint, Salkin highlights plot devices, character functions, and story mechanisms in Yellowstone that she claims are parallels to Sovereign Nation.
Additionally, she alleges that Yellowstone cast several of her proposed recommendations for key roles in her series.
Salkin claims a senior creative executive at HBO who reviewed both her materials for Sovereign Nation and Sheridan’s for Yellowstone later told her he recognized the similarities between the two projects.
Per the complaint, the executive said he immediately ‘terminated Sheridan’s project at HBO for that reason.’
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The complaint points out that the Yellowstone franchise – including 1883, 1923, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch – ‘has generated billions of dollars’ and Salkin ‘has received nothing.’
Salkin (pictured) filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Sheridan, 56, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Friday
The complaint points out that the Yellowstone franchise – including 1883, 1923, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch – ‘has generated billions of dollars’ and Salkin ‘has received nothing’
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While no total amount is listed in the filing, Salkin is seeking damages and profits related to the alleged copyright infringement, plus an injunction to prevent the defendants from continued use of her copyrighted material.
This comes just days after Sheridan shocked fans when he revealed that the prospective Yellowstone spinoff 6666 has been scrapped.
The show was initially announced in 2021.
In Yellowstone, Jefferson White’s character Jimmy Hurdstrom leaves the show’s Montana setting to work on the real 6666 Ranch in Texas.
Sheridan acquired the property after its previous owner’s death, sparking rumors a new series could be set there.
He has now confirmed that the project will not proceed because he does not want to ‘trivialize’ the lives of the real people he employs on the ranch.
On an episode of the podcast Rodeo Time, he stated, ‘I would never fictionalize that ranch,’ noting that ‘people thought that that was gonna be,’ but ‘that’s never gonna happen.’
