'Shocked' Yellowstone Star Q'orianka Kilcher Hopes to 'Shed Light' on Insurance Fraud Claims: Source
As Yellowstone actress Q'orianka Kilcher nears her hearing for insurance fraud claims, a source close to the star says she's looking forward to sharing her truth.
In July, the California Department of Insurance announced that the 32-year-old actress had been charged with two felony counts of workers' compensation insurance fraud in California after she allegedly broke state law by collecting disability benefits while she worked on Yellowstone.
Per their press release, Kilcher played a supporting role in the 2019 Paramount Players film Dora and the Lost City of Gold and allegedly injured her neck and right shoulder while working on the movie.
Authorities claimed Kilcher told a doctor she was too injured to work while filming for her recurring role in season 3 of Yellowstone three years ago, and she went on to collect $96,838 in disability benefits from Oct. 14, 2019, through Sept. 9, 2021. She self-surrendered and pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on May 27, Law360 reported.
With a hearing scheduled to take place on Sept. 7 in Los Angeles, a source close to Kilcher now tells PEOPLE exclusively that she was completely blindsided by the charges.
"She was shocked, to say the least, about the charges and is looking forward to getting the truth out there," the source says. "As a result of a car accident she was involved in on the set of Dora, she is now 10% disabled for the rest of her life. The onset injury was a long road to recovery going through intense physical and mental suffering."
The source notes that because Kilcher is "an indigenous woman of Quechua-Huachipaeri descent," she is "often offered roles that represent Indigenous People in Hollywood that require a lot of physical activity, such as horseback riding and stunts."
Rob Latour/Shutterstock Q'orianka Kilcher
RELATED: Yellowstone Actress Q'orianka Kilcher Charged with Workers' Compensation Insurance Fraud
"Having a second degree black belt in Wushu Kung Fu, being an avid dancer and [having] history with stunts weapons training, Q'orianka has always led a very active life," the source shares. "She had to turn down multiple roles over the last couple years during her recovery due to her injury on the Dora movie."
"This is an incredibly stressful time for her but she hopes that this case can in some way shed light on the difficulty that actors, especially minority women, across the industry experience when injured on set, since at the end of the day, their bodies are their source of work," the source adds. "Without being able to use them to their fullest extent, especially for physically taxing roles like those afforded to women of indigenous descent in Hollywood, many actors are put in a position where they can no longer support themselves and their families."
While Kilcher prepares for the hearing, the source says she's been keeping busy with her loved ones and her professional projects.
"She's been spending the last few weeks surrounded by friends and family who have been supporting her during this incredibly difficult time," the source says. "She's also been focusing on her passion project, the feature film Yesteryear in which she stars, produced and co-wrote. The project highlights mental health during the COVID lockdowns."
Adds the insider, "Q'orianka is an activist at heart and hopes to be able to share her story soon for others who have suffered similar circumstances."
Michael Tullberg/Getty Images Q'orianka Kilcher
RELATED: Everything to Know About Yellowstone Actress Q'orianka Kilcher's Insurance Fraud Case
After Kilcher was allegedly injured in the accident on the set of Dora, the California Department of Insurance claimed that the actress "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."
In October 2019, Kilcher allegedly contacted the insurance company to say she needed treatment and told a doctor that she had been unable to accept work offered to her since the injury occurred "because her neck pain was too severe." She started receiving temporary total disability benefits after making these claims, according to the release.
"After reviewing wage information from her employer, the investigation found Kilcher had worked as an actress on the television show Yellowstone from July 2019 to October 2019, despite her statements to the doctor that she had been unable to work for a year," the release read. "According to records, she returned to the doctor and started receiving disability benefits five days after last working on the show."
The doctor who responded to Kilcher's insurance claim said that if they had been aware of the star's employment in 2019, "they would never have granted her the disability payments."
The California Department of Insurance noted in its statement that workers' compensation insurance fraud in the 2020-21 fiscal year potentially resulted in a loss of $161.94 million to Golden State businesses and workers at large.
PEOPLE reached out to Paramount Network, Paramount+ and reps for Kilcher at the time, but never received a response.
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Kilcher played attorney Angela Blue Thunder in four episodes of Yellowstone's third season, which aired in 2020. She also portrayed Pochantas in 2005's The New World, Kawillaka in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and, most recently, Niki in the 2022 film Dog.
In her next project Yesteryear, Kilcher is set to take on the leading role of Alma Deswood, a "Native actress who psychologically unravels in quarantine amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement," according to the film's IMDb page.
