‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan’s Exorbitant Personal Spending Is Causing “Internal Frustration” At Paramount: Report

As Yellowstone nears its end, a new report is detailing the list of ballooning costs that series creator Taylor Sheridan has been billing to Paramount and 101 Studios, the production studio behind the hit television show.

In addition to being paid for writing, producing and sometimes directing, Sheridan is also paid through multiple personal business ventures used on the show, The Wall Street Journal reports. These range from renting cattle out at $25 a head, to allowing the show to film on one of his Texas ranches, for which he can charge up to $50,000 per week.

He also charged the studio $214,979.61 for something called “Cowboy Camp,” a week-long camp in which Sheridan taught the actors how to handle horses and portray life on the ranch. The invoice reportedly included $33,000 for catering and a $2,000 cost per horse.

Despite his spending, the report states that Paramount and 101 Studios executives are “comfortable” with their business relationship with Sheridan due to the success his shows bring.

“Taylor’s shows are among our most successful and profitable,” a Paramount spokeswoman said, per WSJ. She later stated, “If we could do three more partnerships with people as successful, creative and prolific as Taylor, we’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Internal messages show that executives raised concerns over some of the costs incurred on the show, ranging from horse saddles to prop jewelry. “That is ridiculous. Seriously. How do we control this?” 101 Studios head David Glasser wrote in an email obtained by WSJ.

Sheridan’s business ventures aside, each episode of Yellowstone and its spinoff series are also seeing ballooning costs. A source close to the show claimed they went “several million dollars” over budget per episode when they filmed Season 5.

In total, the report estimates Paramount spends over $500 million a year producing Sheridan’s shows. 1923 Season 1, the Yellowstone prequel series starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, reportedly cost $200 million to create.

The Yellowstone universe has become a cash cow for Paramount after spawning multiple spinoff shows and attracting subscribers to its streaming platform. But its billboard series is now coming to an end after the current season following rumors of a feud between Sheridan and lead actor Kevin Costner. The first eight episodes of Season 5 have already aired, though production has yet to resume on the rest of Season 5 after Costner refused to appear.

Despite this news, Yellowstone is expected to continue with a sequel that has already received a straight-to-series order for a December debut, with Matthew McConaughey attached to lead.

The first eight episodes of Yellowstone Season 5 are now streaming on Paramount+, but they are expected to premiere on Peacock later this month.