Cole Hauser and Taylor Sheridan may have had tension longer than some Yellowstone fans realized.
After Sheridan’s lawsuit against Hauser made headlines, a resurfaced interview pointed at past issues between the duo. A section in Hauser’s April 2022 profile in Men’s Journal revealed that Sheridan, 53, and Hauser, 48, “got into a fight” the second time they met.
“They know each other so well at this point that Sheridan, who has written or cowritten every episode of the show, uses aspects of Hauser’s early life to elicit emotional responses from him on camera,” the outlet wrote.
Earlier in the cover story, Hauser joked about having a history of getting into bar fights.
“Does a bear s–t in the woods? I’ve probably been in one on every continent,” he quipped. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with fighting. Sometimes I’m just tired of words, so let’s beat the s–t out of each other. Maybe at the end of it you’ll buy me a Guinness and I’ll buy you a Bushmills, and we’ll be done. It’s kind of what guys do.”
Hauser has played the role of Rip Wheeler in the Paramount Network western since the show’s 2018 debut. After Yellowstone became a success, Sheridan’s TV universe grew with multiple spinoffs, including 1883 and 1923.
Earlier this month, Us Weekly confirmed that Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch filed a lawsuit against Hauser’s coffee company, Free Rein, on November 21 for trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising.
The lawsuit alleged that Hauser’s coffee brand has a logo which seems similar to Sheridan’s “B and R” design for his ranch. Sheridan claimed that Free Rein is “confusingly similar” to his brand and “constitutes false and misleading descriptions of fact that are likely to cause confusion or to cause mistake” as to which goods are associated with Bosque Ranch, which was founded nearly 20 years ago.
Sheridan went on to point out that Bosque Ranch publicly announced a new craft coffee centered around the “cowboy way of life” in June. The screenwriter questioned the timing of Hauser’s brand, which was launched “a little over three months” later. According to the legal paperwork, Hauser did “not receive permission or authorization” from Sheridan.
The filing requested that Hauser’s company stop using the Free Rein brand and “destroy all products, marketing and promotional materials” that relate to their brand. Bosque Ranch also noted that they expect Free Rein to pay “compensatory damages” because Free Rein is “irreparably damaging” Sheridan’s business.
Hauser has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.
Us Weekly has reached out to Hauser and Sheridan for comment.
