Taylor Sheridan Explains Rage-Baiting Critics With ‘Landman’

Taylor Sheridan has never been shy about ignoring his critics. Now, the Landman creator is admitting he sometimes baits them on purpose. Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, he revealed that some of the creative decisions in Landman were intentionally designed to provoke reviewers—including how he introduced Demi Moore’s character, Cami Miller.

“The critics and me—I don’t care what they think, and it annoys the sh*t out of them that I don’t care,” Sheridan said. “I’ll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage-bait them a bit…F*ck ‘em, honestly.”

According to Sheridan, he knew exactly what critics would say after Season 1. Cami spent much of the first season poolside while her husband, oil tycoon Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), handled the business, prompting some viewers to question why an Oscar-winning actress had such a limited role.

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Sheridan said that criticism was exactly what he anticipated.

“I knew the critics were going to come after me. I’m underutilizing her, can’t write for women, all this nonsense,” he said.

But the plan, he explained, was always bigger than the first season. After Monty’s shocking death, Cami inherited the company in Season 2, instantly transforming from a background figure into one of the show’s central power players. “Then I’m going to kill your husband, and you’re going to have to run the oil company,” he said.

The comments line up with what the Landman cast has been saying for months. Ali Larter recently dismissed the long-running criticism that Sheridan doesn’t write compelling women, calling it “just a false narrative.” She argued that actresses including Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren, and Zoe Saldaña continue to sign on to Sheridan projects because the material gives them complex, memorable characters to play.

Likewise, Billy Bob Thornton has repeatedly defended Sheridan as awards season approaches. Thornton recently argued that the prolific creator deserves far more recognition than he’s received, saying people often misunderstand both Sheridan and his work. “He writes great stuff,” Thornton said. “He’s created quite an empire—and you have to respect him for that.”

Sheridan also used the podcast to criticize television executives, arguing that too many studio decision-makers lack storytelling experience. He described modern network leadership as marketing executives rather than creatives and made clear that he doesn’t build his shows by committee.

“This is not a democracy,” Sheridan said. “You’re going to pay me, and you’re going to give me a bunch of money, and I’m going to deliver you these shows.”

Despite Landman emerging as Paramount+’s biggest original series and recently earning its first major industry award from the Academy of Country Music, Sheridan insisted awards have never been his primary objective.

“You’re not going to win Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys. That’s not my goal,” he said. “My goal is to sit somebody on their couch and move them, make them think, make them laugh, scare them, excite them.”