A copyright lawsuit filed Friday alleges that screenwriter Lauren J. Salkin’s 2016 pitch for a Western drama series was the basis for Taylor Sheridan’s hit show “Yellowstone.” According to court documents, Salkin submitted her project titled “Sovereign Nation” to Sheridan’s management company, Elevate Entertainment, only to receive a rejection stating that Sheridan was unavailable for television work. The lawsuit names 101 Studios, Paramount, and Elevate Entertainment as additional defendants. Representatives for all parties declined to comment immediately.
The legal complaint contends that “Yellowstone” was greenlit at Paramount within months of Salkin’s rejection and premiered in June 2018. Salkin’s legal team points to specific story elements they claim appear in both projects, including a tribal casino serving as a center of political power, disputes over reservation expansion, trust land mechanics, and 99-year lease structures used to drive the narrative conflict.
The lawsuit further alleges that actors Danny Huston and Gil Birmingham, whom Salkin had proposed for her original pitch, were later cast in “Yellowstone” in structurally similar roles. Salkin’s attorneys argue that the combination of creative elements, casting choices, timeline, and Sheridan’s access to the pitch materials constitutes evidence of deliberate copying rather than coincidental genre similarities.
Originally reported by Variety →
About the Author
