Dutton Ranch Fans Revive A Brutal Debate Over Beth's Loyalty To Rip

Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler may be the most iconic couple on "Yellowstone," but longtime fans will recall that back in Season 1, she had a brief dalliance with ex-con Walker. However, not everyone is on the same page about what actually happened between the two of them. As a brief refresher, Beth and Ryan Bingham's character Walker had a brief flirtation in the hit drama's debut season, starting with him giving her a horse riding lesson to get over her fear of horses, and culminating in a makeout sesh against a barn wall. As many fans have pointed out, Beth and Rip weren't actually in an official relationship at the time. With that in mind, one user on X asserted, "She didn't cheat," while another agreed, "Not cheating, they weren't together then." 

However, plenty of fans believe that official or not, Beth and Rip were in a situationship. Cue the Ross Geller "We were on a break!" clip (but imagine him in a cowboy hat). It's worth noting not every "Dutton Ranch" fan is convinced Beth's moment with Walker went beyond an admittedly passionate make-out. In fact, there's some pretty fierce back-and-forth about it online. "I thought they just kissed the one time," mused one Redditor. Likewise, over on X, users argued that a kiss isn't that big a deal, with one such fan reasoning, "She just did that to get a reaction out of Rip because of her own insecurities but she did not sleep with Walker." However, others were still not convinced, and the original X post was met with the fight-ending reply, "She did lol." 

The fact that fans of the "Yellowstone" universe can't seem to agree on whether or not Beth Dutton cheated on Rip Wheeler with Walker bodes well for the show. After all, people have continued to tune in (and that goes for the crowd who believes Beth did cheat on Rip and those who disagree alike). On another subreddit, several viewers pointed out that the whole "Did-Beth-and-Walker-Didn't-Beth-and-Walker" drama was done intentionally to allow viewers to draw their own conclusions. "They only showed them kissing up against the side of the barn and never said if it went farther. I guess that one is up to the viewer to decide what they think," one user wrote. 

They added that when it came to Beth apologizing to Rip the following season, that still didn't prove she'd done anything more than kiss Walker, noting, "It's not really clear if it was just for making out with him or something more." And again, there were tons of fans who contended that even if Beth had slept with Walker, "Although there was clearly something between Beth and Rip, they weren't 'officially' together until Season Three or late Season Two." Well, whatever happened, fans have continued to love the "Yellowstone" universe and Rip and Beth's romantic relationship more specifically, to the extent that the fan-favorite couple got a spinoff in "Dutton Ranch," which is reportedly filled with behind-the-scenes drama to rival even what happens onscreen. 

Likewise, when Rip and Beth were "sidelined," fans of "Dutton Ranch" quickly lost patience with the highly-anticipated spinoff's debut season. Maybe Beth cheated, maybe she didn't, but regardless she and Rip are clearly in it for the long haul, as are those who ship them.