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Taylor Sheridan’s Ranch is suing Cole Hauser’s Coffee Company in Yellowstone National Park.
“Lawyers are the swords of this century,” said a young John Dutton to his son in Yellowstone. “Words are weapons now.” The author of those statements wasn’t joking. Taylor Sheridan, the popular western drama’s scribe and creator, has had his legal sword unsheathed for the whole year. Yellowstone hasn’t had a new episode since January due to behind-the-scenes contract conflicts between Sheridan and starring man Kevin Costner. Now, the Dutton progenitor’s team is embroiled in yet another legal battle with another of his stars. This time around? It’s over a cup of coffee.
Cole Hauser, who plays fan favorite cattle rancher Rip Wheeler, founded his own coffee brand, Free Rein, earlier this autumn. The brand sells an espresso mix called “American Dirt,” which claims to be the drink of choice for early risers and hardworking cowboys. “I am American Dirt,” Hauser told Esquire last October when Free Rein debuted. “So, I just wanted to do something that sounded original, patriotic, and filthy.”
During the SAG-AFTRA strike and Yellowstone’s prolonged break, new Yellowstone-adjacent coffee firms entered the market. Costner collaborated with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Paramount developed a line of coffee and steak rubs with on-screen chef Gabriel “Gator” Guilbeau, and Sheridan collaborated with Keurig on a Bosque Ranch Craft Coffee. This hamlet obviously wasn’t big enough for all four of them in the Yellowstone creator’s kingdom.
According to the federal court for the Northern District of Texas, Sheridan-owned Bosque Ranch sued Free Rein for trademark infringement immediately after its establishment. According to the lawsuit, Free Rein’s “FR” brand emblem is extremely similar to Bosque Ranch’s “BR” design. According to San Angelo Live, “this resemblance, Bosque Ranch contends, will likely cause consumer confusion.” Neither Free Rein nor Bosque Ranch have officially commented on the papers.
With Yellowstone’s future uncertain, Sheridan’s decision to sue the few remaining devoted stars is an intriguing one. According to Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni, the series will most certainly finish without Costner’s involvement. That fact alone may have been the deciding factor for Yellowstone fans to downplay the approaching series finale next November. But now there’s a strike against Hauser, too? The collapse of the Dutton family may just be an off-screen conflict.
The suit is important since the ranch is owned by Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, who utilizes it as a filming site for the series as well as prequels such as 1883. (Sheridan also owns the 6666 ranch, which has appeared in several episodes of the main program and has long been intended as the scene for another spinoff.) In collaboration with Community Coffee, the ranch created its own branded coffee spinoff during the summer.
It is unclear whether the new legal action will have any impact on the final episodes of Yellowstone, which are set to begin filming next spring for a November 2024 debut. However, with the speculation over whether Kevin Costner will appear in the remaining episodes still raging, the possibility of behind-the-scenes tensions with another prominent cast member is sure to have Dutton fans on edge.
Season 5 of “Yellowstone” has been on hiatus since late 2022, with contradictory claims about the season’s completion. While others blame delay on Costner’s hectic schedule, sources close to the actor believe Sheridan’s obsession with “1883” and “1923” prequels is to blame. Costner’s deal, which includes profit sharing from “Yellowstone,” does not include the prequels.
The complaint was filed in federal court in San Angelo, Texas, in the Northern District of Texas. As of now, the summons has not been returned by the process server, meaning that Hauser and his friends have not been legally served.
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