Yellowstone actress accused of illegally collecting over $90,000 in disability benefits
Q'Orianka Kilcher, an actress who appeared on the hit show Yellowstone, has been hit with workers' compensation insurance fraud charges.
The California Department of Insurance said that Kilcher, who played Angela Blue Thunder on Yellowstone, illegally collected over $90,000 in disability benefits that she shouldn't have received, as she was allegedly working on the Paramount Network series while claiming to be too injured to work.
According to a press release, Kilcher allegedly hurt her neck and shoulder during production of the movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold. By October 2019, she contacted an insurance company and told a doctor she was unable to accept work because of her neck pain, and she started receiving disability benefits based on this, collecting $96,838 from October 2019 to September 2021, officials alleged.
But Kilcher allegedly worked on Yellowstone from July to October of 2019, "despite her statements to the doctor that she had been unable to work for a year."
The case is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and Kilcher was arraigned on May 27. In a statement to The Associated Press, the actress' attorney denied the allegations, saying third-party doctors verified her injury and confirmed she was entitled to benefits.
"Ms. Kilcher was at all times candid with her doctors and treatment providers … and she never intentionally accepted benefits that she did not believe she was entitled to," the attorney said, adding she will "vigorously defend herself."
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