Yellowstone actress Q’orianka Kilcher has been accused of worker’s compensation fraud after allegedly claiming disability benefits despite working on the Paramount+ series.
“An investigation by the California Department of Insurance found Kilcher allegedly broke the law in collecting over $90,000 in disability benefits,” the department said in a press release shared with KTLA on Monday, July 11.
The Alienist actress, 32, allegedly injured her neck and shoulder while filming Dora and the Lost City of Gold in October 2018 and though she received medical treatment for the injury, she reportedly stopped seeing a doctor shortly afterward. The department claims that Kilcher then contacted the insurance company again one year later, claiming that she needed more treatment and was forced to turn down work due to lingering pain.
Though the New World star began receiving temporary total disability benefits following that conversation, investigators claim that she worked on Yellowstone from July to October 2019 despite claiming that she had been too injured to work in the year following the incident.
“According to records, she [then] returned to the doctor and started receiving disability benefits five days after last working on the show,” officials alleged in a statement. The doctor who examined the activist also stated that if they had been aware of her employment history, they would not have granted the disability payments. Per the report, Kilcher allegedly received $96,838 in undeserved disability benefits from October 14, 2019 through September 9, 2021.
Kilcher turned herself in to authorities and was arraigned on the charges in May. Her next court date is scheduled for August 7. Though she has not publicly commented on the investigation, Kilcher’s attorney, Michael Becker, told the Associated Press that she would “vigorously defend herself” against the charges.
“Third-party doctors verified her injury and entitlement to benefits. Ms. Kilcher was at all times candid with her doctors and treatment providers…and she never intentionally accepted benefits that she did not believe she was entitled to,” he said in a statement on Tuesday, July 12. “[Kilcher will] vigorously defend herself and asks that she be afforded the presumption of innocence both in and outside the courthouse.”
Kilcher played Angela Blue Thunder opposite Kevin Costner for four episodes of Yellowstone, which aired in the fall of 2020. “It’s such an amazing, strong role that is written for a Native American woman,” she told Decider in November 2020 about her role. “I was just so honored. It was pretty badass to come on to the show and be able to do a role like that.”
She continued: “She is a really strong voice because she is somebody who wants to do things in the right way. That’s her goal in life. She wants to go back to her community, even though she’s tried to leave the past behind. However, when she returns, she does so in a very strong way because she wants to make a difference. She wants to get the land back for her people. That’s what drives her.”
