SALT IN THE WOUND

‘Yellowstone’ Creator Defies MAGA-Coded Boss With New Deal

The move comes after Taylor Sheridan ditched Paramount for a new TV partner.

Paramount is going through the worst breakup ever, and their exes keep rubbing it in their face.

The streamer’s soon-to-be ex-showrunner, Taylor Sheridan, just signed a deal with another one of Paramount’s exes.

The Yellowstone creator, who in one month will depart Paramount for a new deal with NBC Universal, announced a book deal on Tuesday with Simon & Schuster, which Paramount sold three years ago.

The new book, How to Not Die in Prison, is co-written by Sheridan, 55, who created a slew of Paramount’s biggest shows, including Yellowstone and its spin-offs, Landman, and Tulsa King.

Sheridan, whose closest association to prison was in researching his Jeremy Renner-led TV show Mayor of Kingstown (which he created for Paramount Plus), says the book was inspired by a “morbid curiosity” to create a survival guide.

“You might wonder what in the world gives me the knowledge or wisdom to write a survival guide to prison. Well, I’ll tell you—absolutely nothing,” Sheridan writes in the book’s introduction. “I’ve never been to prison. But, like every man, I’ve certainly wondered how I would survive if circumstances ever put me there.”

The book is co-written by Tom Nelson, who the introduction describes as a “prison-hardened ex-con.” It will be published by Simon & Schuster on June 23, 2026.

“Hey, one of us has written hit TV shows and Academy Award-nominated movies, and the other has spent much of his adult life behind bars in medium and maximum-security prisons,” Nelson adds in the introduction. “If that’s what makes for good wisdom and entertainment, I’ll take it.”

In October, Paramount’s leading showrunner announced his bombshell departure, brought on by a contentious meeting with Paramount Skydance’s MAGA-coded CEO, David Ellison.

Ellison, 43, the son of close Trump ally Larry Ellison, paid the president $16 million in a settlement for his 60 Minutes lawsuit. This came weeks after President Trump, 79, announced a deal with Skydance to provide him $20 million in advertisements and public service announcements. That side deal has not been confirmed by Ellison.

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Beginning in March, Sheridan will produce content for NBC Universal under a deal worth up to $1 billion, depending on the volume of his creative output. Sheridan allegedly left after refusing to make his shows “overtly political,” according to sources who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.

Sheridan announced the book deal one day after Paramount one-upped its bid in an embittered fight with Netflix to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery. The back-and-forth bidding war has dragged on for months and remains undecided.

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Owen Mason-HillEditorial intern, Obsessed

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