2 Years Later, Harvey Weinstein Still Believes Taylor Sheridan Owes Him Yellowstone Success

Harvey Weinstein has reportedly been sentenced to prison for 15 years after the New York retrial regarding his s*xual assault allegations. The disgraced Hollywood mogul has been in prison since 2018 after numerous allegations of s*xual misconduct came up against him, triggering the #MeToo movement. Before that, he was one of the biggest producers in the business.

Weinstein has been the producer behind several influential films, such as Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and more. As one of his final projects before being banished from Tinseltown, Weinstein claimed credit for bringing Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone to life.

Harvey Weinstein Claimed He Suggested Kevin Costner for Yellowstone

Kevin Costner in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount

Taylor Sheridan is easily one of the biggest names to come out of the industry in the past decade. While he made a mark as a screenwriter with Sicario and the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water, he really hit it home with Yellowstone. The neo-Western series was one of the best-rated drama shows and was a hit among a key American demographic.

Despite the drama surrounding the final seasons with actor Kevin Costner, the series did give the actor a new lease of life after he saw several failures. It even revived the Western and kickstarted a franchise that has multiple spinoffs. But before it all started, the show had an infamous personality involved: Harvey Weinstein.

The show was mounted at Paramount in mid-2017, and The Weinstein Company was one of the production companies involved. After Weinstein was accused of s*xual assault by multiple women and was ostracized from Hollywood, the studio was removed from the credits. 

To this day, the Hollywood mogul claims credit for bringing the show to Sheridan and suggesting Kevin Costner instead of Sheridan’s original choice, Robert Redford (via THR).

I built our television company. People don’t know this, but one of the last things I did was bring Taylor Sheridan to Yellowstone. Sheridan wanted to cast Robert Redford, but I said, ‘You need to get Kevin Costner.’ And it became a massive hit. But then this happened, and people forget.

While it is not clear what Weinstein means by ‘bringing Sheridan to Yellowstone’, it is obvious that the disgraced mogul is claiming credit for the show’s success.

Weinstein Is Finally Sentenced to Prison 9 Years After #MeToo

Harvey Weinstein in The Graham Norton Show | Credits: BBC

Harvey Weinstein is back in the news as he was sentenced to prison after the New York retrial. The Hollywood mogul has been at Rikers Island for years now and has been completely ostracized from Hollywood following the mountain of allegations that sparked the #MeToo movement. The 74-year-old former producer was convicted to 15 years in prison (via Variety).

Weinstein’s conviction was initially overturned, and after two mistrials, the 9 year saga has come to an endpoint. He still has to face a resentencing in California. In THR’s interview, he refuted all assault allegations, claiming that he was only overbearing and that he is only guilty of cheating on his wife, Georgina Chapman, who left him after the allegations came to light.

The Hollywood mogul’s allegations have led to many industry bigwigs cutting off ties with him and the Weinstein Company. Many filmmakers, actors, and writers had worked with the studio, including Quentin Tarantino, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and more. Even Taylor Sheridan, the creator of Yellowstone, had ties with his company.

Sheridan’s debut directorial effort, Wind River, was bought by The Weinstein Company at Cannes. Surprisingly, the movie dealt with issues of assault on the Native American community. When the news of Weinstein’s allegations broke out in late 2017, Sheridan cut off ties with the company, and its involvement was removed from the final film.

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