‘Yellowstone’ Star Q’Orianka Kilcher’s Disability Fraud Charges Dismissed

Yellowstone actor Q'Orianka Kilcher has been cleared of charges that she engaged in worker's compensation insurance fraud, according to a statement.

People reports that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office dismissed all of the charges against the 32-year-old performer, who plays Angela Blue Thunder on the hit Paramount Network show, on Friday (Feb. 10).

Kilcher says she injured her neck and shoulder in an on-set accident while working on Dora and the Lost City of Gold in October 2018. In 2019, she claimed she had been offered work that she had to turn down due to her lingering pain. Investigators claimed she received $96,838 from 2019 to 2021, but she had worked on the set of Yellowstone just prior to the time she began receiving the money.

“According to records, she returned to the doctor and started receiving disability benefits five days after last working on the show," the Department of Insurance said in a statement.

The California Department of Insurance Authorities announced the charges against Kilcher in July of 2022, after she was arraigned in May. Friday's news brings her legal problems to an end.

"To date, Kilcher has maintained her innocence and today's news exonerates her," her spokesperson says in a statement. "Despite suffering a serious and life-altering traumatic injury she endured while filming Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Kilcher is enthusiastic about her new slate of projects and is hoping to use this moment to shed light on the experiences of other workers who have been injured in the workplace."

"Today, I am beyond grateful that my case has been dismissed," Kilcher adds. "Tomorrow my journey begins to help raise awareness and demand more transparency for worker's rights within the workers comp system."

Kilcher appeared in Season 3 of Yellowstone as a merciless negotiator for the Broken Rock reservation. She reprised that role in Season 5, which launched in November of 2022.

The mid-season finale for Season 5 aired on Jan. 1, and the show is expected to return in the summer of 2023. A recent report from Deadline sets the show's future in doubt, since negotiations with series star Kevin Costner have reportedly stalled over a disagreement about scheduling. A source tells Deadline that Paramount Network has decided to end Yellowstone, possibly as soon as the end of the season, and move on to a new show in the Yellowstone franchise, with talks underway for Matthew McConaughey to star.

As part of Taste of Country's comprehensive coverage of all things Yellowstone, check out our Dutton Rules podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.