Why Taylor Sheridan Once Sued One Of Yellowstone's Main Actors

Kevin Costner's "Yellowstone" departure and subsequent legal drama have been well documented, but he isn't the only actor from the series to almost go to court with showrunner — and occasional star — Taylor Sheridan. Cole Hauser, who plays the Dutton family's reliable ranch hand/resident assassin Rip Wheeler on the neo-Western drama, was sued by Sheridan over a coffee dispute. And to think that both men's respective "Yellowstone" characters are best pals.

As documented by Looper, Sheridan's Bosque Ranch Craft Coffee company sued Hauser's Free Rein Coffee over trademark infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition. Essentially, the folks at Bosque Ranch felt that Free Rein's logo copied their own emblem, arguing that the similarities harmed their brand as customers could potentially get them mixed up. What's more, the lawsuit alleged that Hauser's coffee brand ripped off Sheridan's as both company's marketing both featured cowboy iconography, further complicating matters.

Rip Wheeler and Sheridan's Travis Wheatley would probably have settled the dispute with a bunkhouse brawl or a horse riding competition. Fortunately, the actors behind the macho on-screen cowboys are more civilized than their on-screen cowboy counterparts, so their legal woes didn't result in any serious fallout.

The legal drama between Taylor Sheridan and Cole Hauser ended shortly after it began. The former's attorneys requested to have the lawsuit dropped one month after filing it, and the rest is history. The outcome also prohibits Bosque Ranch from suing Free Rein again in future, so if there any future disputes between the two "Yellowstone" alumni, they probably won't be coffee-related.

The good news, though, is that there doesn't appear to be any bad blood between Hauser and the prolific showrunner. Cole Hauser is set to star in his own "Yellowstone" spin-off with Kelly Reilly, suggesting that he and Sheridan are more than happy to work together. It's also worth noting that Rip Wheeler is portrayed strongly throughout the entirety of "Yellowstone," which is more than can be said about Kevin Costner's John Dutton, who was conveniently killed off and left lying in a bathroom after butting heads with Sheridan behind the scenes. So, really, it could have been worse for the actor.