There’s a new war brewing around the cast and crew of “Yellowstone” but it’s happening off set.
The drama’s star Cole Hauser‘s coffee brand, Free Rein Coffee Company, is being sued by Bosque Ranch — which is owned by the show’s creator Taylor Sheridan.
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.
Both the caffeine company and the ranch use a similar logo, with the letters B and R intertwining.
Hauser, 48, who plays fan-favorite cowboy Rip Wheeler on the Western, launched the company with his three friends Karl Pfluger, Aron Marquez and Paul Anderson.
The brand embodies “the spirit of the West … the dreamer’s mindset and callused hands of those cowboys [Hauser] admired,” according to Free Rein’s website.
The Bosque Ranch has been used as a location spot to film “Yellowstone,” as well as its prequel “1883.”
The ranch even dropped its own java brand alongside Community Coffee earlier this year.
The Post reached out to Hauser and Sheridan’s reps for comment.
“Yellowstone” will debut its final five episode season next November and will start filming in the spring.
It’s still unknown if star Kevin Costner — who played patriarch John Dutton — will return to the final season.
Costner, 68, caused major waves when he left the show in 2022.
Sheridan, 54, and the Oscar winner have apparently been embroiled in a feud.
“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.”
Hauser said last year that Costner taught him how to be “a gentleman on set.”
He told Fox News: “[What surprised me about Costner is] just what kind of human being he is. Before an actor or as a creative soul is just him as a person.”
He added that the pair bonded over both being from California and having families.
Co-star Wes Bentley — who plays Jamie Dutton. — admitted that he’s ecstatic for the show to finally meet its end next year.
“I will miss it, but I will also celebrate it being over,” the “Hunger Games” alum, 45, told the Hollywood Reporter in June.
“It’s so hot and combustible right now.”
Source link
