Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone has had its share of controversy but Adam Beach’s call for a boycott asked questions regarding casting practices.

Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone finally ended last year with five seasons and a lot of behind-the-scenes drama.

Taylor Sheridan’s exploration of the new American Frontier, which he has done in his movies as well, was widely well-received in its initial seasons for showing a side of America that was often ignored.

The show saw conflict between the owners of the Yellowstone ranch, the suits who want to buy and develop the land, and the Native Americans who share it.

Kelsey Asbille played Monica Dutton, the Native American wife of Luke Grimes’ Kayce Dutton. Asbille’s claims of being part Cherokee led to actors like Adam Beach calling for a boycott of the show.

Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone faced a potential boycott from Law & Order star even before release

Adam Beach in Law & Order: SVU | Credits: NBC

Kevin Costner’s neo-Western drama Yellowstone is a sprawling epic that sees various stakeholders of the titular ranch battle it out during changing times. The show focuses on the conflict between the new, the old, and the originals. Taylor Sheridan chose to focus on the conflict between the ranch owners and the Native American tribes in the area.

Kelsey Asbille, who had previously played a Native American in Sheridan’s directorial debut Wind River, was cast in a similar role of Monica Dutton. She is the wife of Kayce Dutton, who leaves his father’s ranch to live with his family in the Broken Rock Reservation. Asbille had reportedly claimed that she had Cherokee ancestry.

A still from Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount

However, Law & Order star Adam Beach called for Native American actors to boycott the series as the network chose to cast an actor who only had roots instead of having the experience of living among Natives on reservations.

In a since-deleted Instagram post (via Reappropriate), he said,

Failure in diversity. I’m asking my Native actors to stay away from this project. Yellowstone is telling the world that no Native actresses [are] capable of leading a show. Unless your great-great-grandparents are Cherokee.

Beach also reportedly mentioned in the comments that he was representing hard-working Native American women who had lost out on roles that would have been perfect for them, but they still lost out on them.

Yellowstone star Kelsey Asbille’s ancestry and association with Native American tribes were brought into question

Kelsey Asbille in Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount

Kelsey Asbille, Kevin Costner, and Taylor Sheridan did not respond to Adam Beach’s comments or accusations. The Yellowstone star’s ancestry was instead revealed through a New York Times article that she was associated with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. However, this is where the plot thickens.

Actor Sonny Skyhawk reportedly launched an enquiry into Asbille’s association with the Eastern Band, but the Tribal Enrollment office of the nation responded, saying that they had no records of the actress. Skyhawk said to Pechanga,

The only legally recognized entity that can prove and declare one’s Native identity is the tribal nation that anyone claims.

Asbille’s heritage was described as part-Taiwanese, British, and Eastern Band Cherokee. The author of the New York Times article also claimed to Buzzfeed News that she got Asbille’s specific lineage from The Weinstein Company’s (they were producers of Yellowstone initially) press junket.

Yellowstone is now available to stream on Paramount+ (USA).