Yellowstone SLAMMED by Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino sparking fierce fan outrage

Yellowstone fans banded together to fire back at Quentin Tarantino after the iconic director dismissed their favorite Western drama as little more than a 'soap opera.'

The online drama kicked off after the Pulp Fiction creator, 61, was asked to compare movies with modern TV shows during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

While Tarantino admitted that some recent TV series are 'pretty good,' he argued they are never as 'compelling' as feature films and used Yellowstone—which recently saw the departure of Kevin Costner—as his prime example.

'I didn’t really get around to watching Yellowstone’the first three years or so. Then I watch the first season, and I’m like, "Wow, this is f****** great!" I’ve always been a big Kevin Costner fan, he’s f******wonderful in this,' Tarantino recalled. 'And I get really caught up in the show, I’m having a great time watching. And the first season, I’m kind of talking like, "Oh, this is like a big movie."'

He continued: 'While I’m watching it, I’m compelled. But at the end of the day, it’s just a soap opera.'

And just to drive the point home, he added, 'You don’t remember it five years from now,” which, naturally, set fans of the hit show on fire. 

The backlash came fast and furious, with Yellowstone lovers flooding social media to defend their beloved series and call out Tarantino for his 'dismissive' take.

One critic clapped back, 'Is there anything that man does like besides his own work?' an another chimed in, 'He also loves to hear himself talk.' 

Yet another even took aim at Quentin's own recent Oscar-winning work, posting, 'In that case once upon a time in hollywood is a tv movie. 

Despite the growing storm of criticism, Tarantino doubled down on his critique of the Yellowstone series during his podcast appearance 

'You are caught up in the minutia of the moment,' he argued. 'The difference is I’ll see a good western movie and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. I’ll remember this scene or that scene and it built to an emotional climax of some degree…

'There’s not a payoff on this (TV) stuff. There’s just more inter-connectional drama. And while I’m watching it, that’s good enough. 

'But when it’s over, I couldn’t tell you (what happened). I can remember who the bad guy was in the first season of Yellowstone. But I don’t remember any of the details of it, and I don’t remember any of the bad guys for season two or season three.' 

While the Yellowstone fanbase hit back, some listeners agreed with Tarantino, acknowledging that something might be missing in the long-form storytelling of modern TV. 

'It's an interesting thought. I tend to agree with him. Something is lost In these shows. But I tend to be a movie goer and biased in that regard,' am X user shared. 

Tarantino's uproar comes after Yellowstone fans were less than thrilled with the latest episode’s heavy focus on Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the show who also plays horse trainer Travis Wheatley.

The social media consensus was clear: Sheridan was taking up far too much of the action for a character who’s little more than a bit part.

Many fans were quick to point out that this seemed intentional—now that series star Costner is no longer part of the show.

Costner departed Yellowstone before part two of the final Season 5 in June, amid much drama, including rumors of a feud between him and Sheridan. 

Now it seems Sheridan may have been making up for the absence of Costner's John Dutton with some screen time of his own, complete with a strip poker game that featured real-life supermodel Bella Hadid.

'15 minutes of story and scenes wasted with watching Taylor Sheridan showboat on his own show, partying and just doing his thing. Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he does in real life too,' wrote one unimpressed viewer.

Taylor also appeared in a pivotal role in the finale of his show Lioness on Sunday. And he had a role on the Yellowstone prequel 1883. 

Another added, 'As if Taylor Sheridan wasted one of the last episodes of this show by inserting himself so he could parade around with half-naked women. We could have had 8 more episodes of Kevin Costner instead of this bs #Yellowstone.'

One fan lamented, 'Yeah, and they’ve treated the best actor on the show, @modernwest, Kevin Costner. He was willing to come back, and of course, Sheridan’s ego got in the way. What a sad end for John Dutton’s legacy.'

Someone else quipped, 'Being generous on the 15 minutes :) Felt more like an hour with 25 minutes of storylines that we actually want to see.'

The episode had all the subtlety of a neon sign flashing, according to another critic, as they commented, 'The episode was a look at me I’m Taylor Sheridan. He may as well have Kevin Costner just come out of the shower at this point.'

As for the rumored feud between Taylor and Kevin, another follower chimed in, 'I think now we know: what caused the fall out with Costner, oh boy Sheridan wanted to be the man lol, and I sure do miss Costner editing this guy's terrible scripts.'

Of course, fans were shocked by a surprise cameo by Hadid and her boyfriend Adan Banuelos in Sunday's penultimate episode. 

The new episode found Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) travelling to Texas to oversee Travis Wheatley (Sheridan) selling the ranch's horses, following last week's episode that featured another shocking death.

Fans were quite surprised when Beth knocked on Travis' door and found it being answered by his girlfriend Sadie, played by Hadid, who is aside from being a supermodel is also an accomplished equestrian.

Her boyfriend Banuelos - an accomplished cowboy himself, being voted into the NCHA Riders Hall of Fame at age 28, the youngest ever to be inducted - was also seen in a brief scene involving Travis playing strip poker.

Fans did not hesitate to take to X (formerly Twitter) to relay their surprise at seeing this couple make their cameo appearances. 

@nourishing4what said, 'Bella Hadid on Yellowstone was definitely not on my 2024 bingo card…'

@shuIkie added, 'did i just see bella hadid in that yellowstone show??'

'Me seeing Bella Hadid on #Yellowstone with her boyfriend. what is going on,' added X user @vickysal99.

Jackie Arnold (@jackiearnolddd_) added, 'Bella hadid on Yellowstone is wild I love it.'

@theunhingedgem said in all caps, 'BELLA HADID ON YELLOWSTONE MADE MY WHOLE NIGHT.'

'Bella Hadid in tonight’s episode of Yellowstone & not-surprisingly she is stunning,' said @berstreet.

While Bella Hadid is best known as a supermodel, she is also an expert equestrian rider who once had ambitions of competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

However her mother Yolanda revealed in January 2016 that her daughter had to give up her equestrian dreams after she was diagnosed with Lyme's disease as she had to walk away from the sport.

'Bella had to give up her lifelong dream of having a professional riding career and a shot at the Olympics due to her severe symptoms and inability to ride,' Yolanda said.

'This was the biggest heartbreak of her life and an extremely sensitive subject for her. She is resilient and focused on a new direction--she's made a name for herself in the modeling industry while she struggles with symptoms of chronic Lyme every day,' she added.

Hadid did get back in the saddle, as she was spotted riding at an equestrian event in Florida back in March 2023.

She was also photographed on horseback with boyfriend Adan Banuelos at the New York City premiere of his short film series Window To The West.

Hadid is no stranger to acting either, appearing in three episodes of Ramy and four episodes of Love Advent. 

It remains to be seen if both Hadid and Banuelos will return for next week's Yellowstone finale or not. 

The episode didn't feature any deaths, though it did seem to set up what may well be an epic finale.

The family auctioned off all of the ranch's horses and cattle, as many a ranch hand questioned the future of the Yellowstone-Dutton ranch.

While the millions they made at auction bought them some time, Kayce came up with a way that he thinks can save the ranch: by giving it away.

Who Kayce plans on giving the ranch away to remains to be seen, though it's possible that he could give it back to the Indians, completing a theory fans have suggested since the 1883 prequel finale.

An Indian told John Dutton's great great grandfather that his family would control this land for seven generations before his people take it back.

John Dutton's family is in fact the seventh generation to run the ranch, and it seems that Kayce just may give up the ranch to save it in next week's finale.

Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) did tell Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) that he wanted him to stay on at the ranch to help 'build it back up, while the rest of the ranch hands pondered where they might be working next. 

Teeter (Jennifer Landon) mourned the loss of Colby (Denim Richards), with Beth helping by taking her to a tourist bar to mess with the out-of-towners.

Beth also seemingly leaked information about her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) to the press while the police investigated Sarah Atwood's (Dawn Olivieri) company Market Equities. 

Jamie insisted that if she ruins him, she'll be ruining the whole family, though she insisted that she'll reveal he was actually adopted by John and is not related to the Dutton's by blood.

Next week's finale will feature the burial of John Dutton, with Beth whispering into her father's casket, 'I will avenge you.'

Yellowstone returns with the massive finale on Sunday, December 15 at 8 PM ET on Paramount Network.