Yellowstone’s first LGBTQ+ kiss did not come without some controversy. During the seventh episode of the neo-Western’s current season, John Dutton’s assistant, Clara Brewer (Lilli Kay), is briefly seen locking lips with an unidentified character during the county fair. The series’ conservative fans quickly took to social media following the scene, with some criticizing the series for going “woke.”
In a recent interview with Deadline, Kay discussed how the kiss came about:
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan recently shut down the notion that the series was “conservative,” explaining that Yellowstone explores “the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated” as well as gentrification and corporate greed.
“I’ll tell you something about that. We were in our Covid protocol. It was written that Clara is making out with someone in the background behind John and Summer. And we were trying to figure out who was easy and comfortable [to cast] who was also in the testing cycle. My partner, Juli Kocemba, was there with me in Montana so they said, ‘oh, let’s just have you guys make out in the background.’ My partner’s non-binary, so we’re like, ‘well it’s a gender fluid make out in the background.’ We thought, nobody’s gonna make a big deal about it. And then a lot of people made a very big deal about it. It was very funny because I did not expect anyone to even really catch it. And then people were like, lesbians on the range! It was very, very funny.”
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Clara Brewer and the Duttons
Paramount Global Distribution Group
Kay joined the Yellowstone cast this season as John Dutton (Kevin Costner) took office as governor of Montana. While working as Dutton’s assistant, she proves her loyalty to the family.
Kay is best known for her appearances on Your Honor and Chambers. Her father, Stephen Kay, serves as a Director and Executive Producer on Yellowstone; her stepmother, Piper Perabo, co-stars in the series. Kay, a self-proclaimed “horse kid” was a fan of Sheridan’s hit show before being cast and calls the experience of working alongside her father and Perabo her “dream.”
“She [Clara] was his assistant and now she’s kind of John’s everything. She’s the kind of person that’s wrangling all the political things that he’s dealing with. She’s fairly inexperienced compared to the people that were on his team, so she’s had to step up in ways that she did not expect. But she’s able to do it pretty well.”
Yellowstone has enjoyed growing popularity since its 2018 premiere. The series stars Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, and Cole Hauser. It has spawned three spinoffs: 1883, 1923, and the upcoming 6666, which takes place in Texas’ Four Sixes Ranch. Season 5 of Yellowstone will return in the summer.
