Actress Q’orianka Kilcher, who appeared the third season of the popular drama Yellowstone, has been charged with fraudulently taking more than $90,000 in California workers comp payments.
The California Department of Insurance announced the charges Monday and according to The Wrap, Kilcher has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
State officials maintain that Kilcher took the workers comp disability payments but continued working despite claiming she was injured on the set of Dora and the Lost City of Gold in 2018.
The state Insurance office added, “In October 2018 while acting in the movie ‘Dora and the Lost City of Gold,’ Kilcher allegedly injured her neck and right shoulder. She saw a doctor a few times that year but stopped treatment and did not respond to the insurance company handling her claim on behalf of her employer.”
The agency added that Kilcher told them she had to turn down work as a result of the injury. However, the department soon realized she had turned up in four episodes of the Kevin Costner drama Yellowstone that aired in 2020 and were filmed in 2019.
“When told about Kilcher’s recent employment history, the doctor on her claim stated if they had been aware of it they would have never granted her the disability payments,” the Department explained. “From October 14, 2019, through September 9, 2021, Kilcher’s received $96,838 in undeserved disability benefits.”
Indeed, a look at Kilchers IMDb page shows that she participated in at least four projects since her work in the Dora production.
Attorney Michael Becker, who is representing the actress, insisted that Kilcher will “vigorously defend herself and asks that she be afforded the presumption of innocence both in and outside the courthouse.”
Kilcher is next scheduled to appear in court on August 7.
The actress is no stranger to controversy. In 2010 she was arrested in Washington D.C. for tying herself to the White House fence to protest a visit from Peru’s president. Kilcher’s father is a Peruvian Indian.
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