Original Lioness Operatives Criticize Taylor Sheridan's Series for Misrepresenting Their History

Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount+ series, Lioness, is facing criticism from the original Lioness operatives, who claim the show significantly deviates from their real-life experiences and mission.

Original Lionesses Cite Inaccuracies and Erasure

Ranie Ruthig, one of the original Lionesses, stated that the series “does very little to celebrate the group’s true milestones” and that Sheridan “took our history and kind of corrupted it.” The team, comprised of mechanics, engineers, and combat medics, was the first all-female team to engage in offensive combat ground operations in U.S. military history, primarily tasked with protecting translators and assisting in body-searching female suspects.

“It makes me mad that it doesn’t follow what we did at all,” Ruthig told The Telegraph. Michelle Dallocchio, a member from 2004 to 2005, described the show as “appropriation,” arguing it repackages complex wartime history into a sanitized version.

Documentary Offers Alternative Perspective

A 2008 documentary, Lioness, directed by Daria Sommers and Meg McLagan, provides a more accurate portrayal of the original team and their struggles with PTSD after returning from Iraq. Sommers also offers a detailed analysis of the series in a twelve-episode podcast, The Lioness Origin Story.

“I’m not critiquing Nicole Kidman or Zoe Saldaña—they should get all the kick-ass adventure roles they want,” Sommers told The Telegraph. “But if Taylor Sheridan had called the show something else, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Despite criticisms, Season 3 of Lionessgarnered over 7 million views in its first week, following an attempted kidnapping amidst the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.