'Yellowstone' star Neal McDonough says Hollywood blackballed him due to his no-kissing rule

Fox News

01-08-2025

Actor Neal McDonough got candid about the moral line he refused to cross that ultimately led him to be "blackballed" in Hollywood.
On a recent episode of the "Nothing Left Unsaid" podcast, "The Last Rodeo" star revealed the career-altering reason he was blacklisted from acting gigs – he refused to kiss anyone but his wife on-screen.
The podcast host asked, "Can you go into a little more detail for people that… don't know about what got you blackballed?"
"I had always had in my contracts that I wouldn't kiss another woman on-screen," McDonough shared. "It was me, really, who had a problem. I was like, 'Yeah, I don't want to put you through it. I know we're going to start having kids, and I don't want to put my kids through it.'"
McDonough, 59, continued to open up about how his personal boundaries didn't seem to sit well with people in Hollywood, and how the issue impacted his livelihood.
"Hollywood just completely turned on me," he said. "I lost everything you could possibly imagine."
"Not just houses and material things. But your swagger, your cool, who you are, your identity, everything. My identity was an actor, and a really good one. And once you don't have that identity, you're kind of lost in a tailspin."
While McDonough admitted he spiraled for years, he said his turning point was when he gave up drinking. The Hollywood actor was then able to realign his sense of purpose.
"I stopped drinking and everything just kind of changed. Literally, the clouds parted," McDonough explained. "'Oh. I don't need this crutch. Oh, people are calling me. Oh, I am successful. Oh, I do like myself again. OK, I am God's child, and I have a job to do. Stop wallowing in self-pity. Dust yourself off and go hit it hard.'"
McDonough's commitment to his wife, Ruvé, was the driving force behind the no-kissing clause — a rule he stands by to this day.
"That's the other thing. You know, she's a good-looking woman, and everything else pales compared to my wife Ruvé," he remarked. "But in all seriousness, it was just something I was never comfortable doing."
In May, McDonough shared how he broke his no-kissing rule for his movie, "The Last Rodeo."
McDonough spoke to Fox News Digital about how it felt to get back in the saddle after starring in Western projects, including "Yellowstone," as well as finally being able to "kiss the girl in the end."
WATCH: NEAL MCDONOUGH FINALLY GETS HIS ON-SCREEN KISS IN 'THE LAST RODEO'
"I've been riding horses my whole life, so to jump into this saddle is different because I've never really been in this type of saddle before," McDonough said. "I've not been the hero of the movie. I've never been in the position where I get to kiss the girl in the end because, as everyone knows, I won't kiss another woman on screen."
McDonough added it took a bit of persuasion to have Ruvé, who helped produce "The Last Rodeo" and starred as his on-screen wife, on board, especially during their romantic scenes.
"I convinced my wife, Ruvé. I said, 'Honey, you have to be in the film because I have to kiss the girl in the end.' She's like, 'I don't know how to act.' I'm like, 'Well, you do now.'"
Directed by his longtime friend and filmmaker Jon Avnet, the moment wasn't just a cinematic kiss to McDonough, he explained, but the culmination of years of faith and dedication toward his marriage that has withstood the pressures of Hollywood.