‘Yellowstone’ writer Taylor Sheridan reveals real reason for quitting ‘Sons of Anarchy’

Taylor Sheridan revealed he quit Sons of Anarchy due to a pay dispute.

The 56-year-old actor starred on the hit TV show alongside Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, and Ron Perlman, but Taylor eventually walked away from the series because he felt undervalued.

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Taylor explained, “I’ve taken my beatings.”

“The worst beating, which is also the greatest gift that I ever got, season two of Sons of Anarchy had ended, it’s a very successful cable show, [and] I’m an actor making scale. I’d literally leave the set and go to my other job, because I didn’t make enough on that show to pay my rent and live,” the actor confessed.

Taylor recalled, “So, after season two, I told them, ‘Guys, I’m not coming back and doing this again for this price.'”

The actor wanted his bosses to match the $20,000 that the other supporting series regulars were receiving. However, they were unwilling to meet his pay demands.

Taylor said, “They couldn’t do it,” adding, “We’re not talking about an exorbitant amount of money, especially not in L.A. They said, ‘We’ll give you 15, and we’ll guarantee you 10 episodes, that’s all you’re getting.’ I do the math, and I said, ‘That’s not a raise. No.’”

“My attorney responded to this business affairs guy, ‘I’ve got kids on cooking shows on YouTube that make more than that,’ and he goes, ‘Then the guy should go get a cooking show on YouTube. We just don’t have to pay him because there’s 50 of that dude; I can recast him tomorrow,'” he revealed.

Subsequently, Taylor turned his back on acting and instead focused on screenwriting, enjoying huge success with TV shows like Yellowstone.

He said, “Call it pride or ego or integrity, but I just realized I’ve maxed out what I can do as an actor in this industry.”

“So, I’m not going to try to do it anymore. And the people who have all the power are the people telling stories, so I’m going to tell my own stories. That’s when I decided that I was going to write,” Taylor Sheridan revealed on when he decided he would start writing instead of acting.