Taylor Sheridan’s Shocking Sons of Anarchy Exit and Its Surprising Yellowstone Connection
Before he became the creative powerhouse behind Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan was best known to TV fans for his role in Sons of Anarchy — and his dramatic exit from that series turned out to shape the course of his entire career.
From Deputy to Director: Sheridan’s Early Days in Hollywood
Long before Yellowstone, Sheridan built his résumé with bit parts in shows like Star Trek: Enterprise and CSI. His breakout came when he joined Sons of Anarchy as Deputy David Hale, appearing in 21 episodes across the first three seasons.
Hale stood out as one of the few characters trying to uphold law and order in a world ruled by chaos. He wasn’t a villain — but he wasn’t exactly a hero either. His moral conflict and quiet loyalty made him one of the show’s most nuanced supporting roles.
However, Sheridan’s time in Charming was cut brutally short — both on-screen and off.
A Behind-the-Scenes Dispute That Changed Everything
Sheridan’s departure from Sons of Anarchy came after a bitter pay dispute with the show’s producers. Speaking to Deadline, Sheridan revealed that his salary was “less than virtually every other person on the show, and not enough for me to quit my second job.”
When his attorney pushed for fair compensation, the studio’s response was blunt: they didn’t believe he was “worth paying more.”
Rather than continue under those conditions, Sheridan walked away — and showrunner Kurt Sutter made sure Hale’s exit was final.
In the Sons of Anarchy season 3 premiere, Hale is killed in a shocking drive-by at Half-Sack’s funeral. He heroically returns fire at gunmen attacking the mourners, only to be struck by their van — a violent, abrupt end to one of the series’ few moral anchors.
Turning a Career Setback into an Empire
Leaving Sons of Anarchy was devastating for Sheridan at the time — but it also pushed him toward the next phase of his career. Without acting opportunities, he began writing screenplays that captured his love for the American West and its quiet brutality.
That creative pivot gave birth to the Sheridanverse, which now includes Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, Tulsa King, and Lioness.
Sheridan has said he learned a valuable lesson from his Sons of Anarchy experience — particularly the way his character was written off. He described it as an “F-you car crash,” meaning a violent death given to an actor following backstage tension.
Reversing His Own Death in Yellowstone
A decade later, Sheridan cheekily flipped the script on his own fate. In Yellowstone season 3, episode “Going Back to Cali,” the ranchers face off against a California biker gang. The standoff ends when Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) drives his truck straight into the bikers — mirroring the way Sheridan’s Sons of Anarchy character was killed.
The moment was a deliberate callback — a darkly funny, self-referential nod from Sheridan to his past as a struggling actor before he became one of television’s most powerful showrunners.
From Death Scene to Destiny
What began as an underpaid supporting role ended up launching one of Hollywood’s most successful modern storytellers. Taylor Sheridan’s Sons of Anarchy exit may have been brutal, but it set him on the path to creating Yellowstone — and redefining American television in the process.