Yellowstone’s Cole Hauser, Taylor Sheridan had fight pre-lawsuit 

The “Yellowstone” drama is nonstop — both onscreen and off.

Cole Hauser, 48 – who stars on “Yellowstone” as Rip Wheeler, the loyal son-in-law to John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and husband to the ruthless Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly, 46) – is the latest cast member to get into a fight with showrunner Taylor Sheridan, 53. 

Amid the news that the two are in a legal battle, a resurfaced 2022 Men’s Journal interview from Hauser saw the actor recalling his early days in Hollywood, when he worked with and befriended other up-and-comers, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Hauser appeared in “Good Will Hunting”). Taylor Sheridan was also in their circle.

According to Men’s Journal, they got into a fight the second time they met. However, Hause didn’t go into further detail.

“Does a bear sh-t in the woods? I’ve probably been in one on every continent,” he laughed at the time.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with fighting,” he told the outlet. “Sometimes I’m just tired of words, so let’s beat the sh-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.”

He further called Sheridan “a really intense guy” during an interview with Ryen Russillo on his podcast.

“He’s one of those guys who works his ass off ’til it’s over, and when it’s over, he likes to have a nice drink and enjoy himself,” Hauser said.

On Dec. 5, news broke that Sheridan’s ranch, Bosque Ranch, is suing Hauser’s coffee brand, Free Reign. 

A lawsuit was filed Nov. 21 by the ranch against Free Rein in the Northern District of Texas’ federal court in San Angelo for trademark infringement.

It cited unfair competition and false advertising in the filing.

The suit claimed that Free Rein uses “a brand mark strikingly similar to Bosque Ranch’s registered trademark, potentially misleading consumers,” according to San Angelo Live.

Hauser is the second lead actor that Sheridan has gotten embroiled into drama with, since Sheridan and Costner have been in an ongoing feud. 

Costner, 68, caused major waves when he left the show in 2022. 

Rumors flew around about what happened between Costner and Sheridan.

“Only Taylor truly knows what is going on,” a source told The Post in April. “Taylor spent years not being truly appreciated in Hollywood, and now that he’s the top of the heap, there’s definitely some ego to all of this.”

Sheridan broke his silence about it in June, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” he said, referring to Costner’s epic western movie, “Horizon.”

“He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with ‘Yellowstone.’ I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”

The showrunner stated that he still respects Costner as an actor, but matters between them have become complicated as other people have gotten involved.

“I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone,” Sheridan said. “But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting…His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus.”

He added: “I sure hope [the movie is] worth it.” 

“Yellowstone” will debut its final five episode season next November and will start filming in the spring. Following that, it will have a spin-off series starring Matthew McConaughey.