Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan sparks concern after casting Bella Hadid in controversial scene

Yellowstone fans have expressed their concerns about the TV show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, after he cast Bella Hadid as his girlfriend in the series finale.

Viewers were stunned while tuning into Sunday’s penultimate episode when the 28-year-old model appeared alongside boyfriend Adan Banuelos.

In the latest episode, Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) traveled to Texas to oversee Sheridan’s character Travis Wheatley as he sold the ranch’s horses, following last week’s episode that saw another shocking death.

Fans were surprised when Beth knocked on Travis’ door and discovered that his girlfriend Sadie, played by Hadid, was an accomplished equestrian in real life.

Her friend Banuelos – a successful cowboy himself who was elected to the NCHA Riders Hall of Fame at the age of 28, the youngest ever inducted – was also featured in a brief scene of Travis playing strip poker.

Described by Vulture in an “unimaginable feat of self-mythologizing,” the publication asked, “Is Taylor Sheridan okay?” Or is this a cry for help, an expression of Sheridan’s suppressed feelings of frustration, lack of self-worth and unresolved desire for revenge, translated into barely fictionalized form?’

And the response on X, formerly known as Twitter, wasn’t much better, as people were quick to mock the ‘self-indulgent’ Sheridan.

One person wrote: ‘The first time in this episode Taylor Sheridan writes himself a scene where his character is a super cool guy who wins at strip poker against hot ladies, that felt over the top.

Yellowstone fans were shocked by a surprise cameo from supermodel Bella Hadid in the penultimate episode of the season on December 8

Hadid’s real-life boyfriend Adan Banuelos also appeared in a short scene in the latest episode

“The second it happens, you have to wonder if he’s okay,” they added.

A second person commented, “Taylor Sheridan making Bella Hadid his girlfriend in ‘Yellowstone’ is objectively hilarious.”

A third viewer posted: ‘If I were Taylor Sheridan I’d also cast myself as the shirtless savior in the penultimate episode of my flagship show, but casting Bella Hadid as your girlfriend? lol.’

Others were left fuming about the episode in general, with one person saying: “Last night’s episode of #Yellowstone really showed the extent of Taylor Sheridan’s ego.”

Another mocked: “The whole show last night was a joke. Worse episode in Yellowstone history. Taylor Sheridan made the episode all about him. Very disappointing.’

Someone else wrote: ‘I never thought a TV show would top #GameOfThrones for worst ending, but damn @Yellowstone is trying.

“Taylor Sheridan’s ego got in the way of the whole ending. We don’t care about Twirly Horse/strip poker guy. Horribly written.’

And another person moaned: ‘#Yellowstone has turned into the Taylor Sheridan show and become extremely self-indulgent!!!!’

A Yellowstone fan took to X, formerly Twitter, and asked if Sheridan was “okay.”

Another viewer claimed the final episode ‘showed the extent of his ego’

Someone else described the casting of Bella Hadid as his on-screen girlfriend as ‘hilarious’

Another fan of the show claimed the TV series had become ‘extremely self-indulgent’

Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone character John Dutton was killed off at the beginning of season five

Another viewer added: ‘The penultimate episode of YELLOWSTONE was awful. The loss of Costner wasn’t the creative death knell for the series, it was the way Taylor Sheridan responded to the loss with his scripts. He clearly couldn’t see past his ego and his anger.’

Someone else raged: ‘As if Taylor Sheridan wasted one of the last episodes of this show by inserting himself so he could parade around half-naked women. We could have had eight more episodes of Kevin Costner instead of this bs.”

After an apparent falling out with Costner, who played fan favorite John Dutton, Sheridan made the decision to kill off the character in the first episode of the current season.

The show wasted no time in revealing that John died, apparently by suicide, in the opening moments of the Season 5 Part 2 premiere.

Director Christina Voros opened up about Sheridan’s decision to have Dutton killed in a recent interview The Hollywood Reporter.

Following fan speculation that the quick and brutal death was a prank on Costner, Voros revealed that Sheridan wanted to quickly address the actor’s departure and redirect the story to the remaining characters, exploring how they deal with the “aftermath” of Dutton’s death.

“I think Taylor’s decision to start this way was incredibly courageous,” she said.

“I think it’s a testament to his trust in the characters and the actors who embody them to say, ‘Let’s not make this about the incident. Let’s make this about how these human beings exist in the aftermath.” That was more interesting [Taylor] than the incident itself.’