CNN
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Picking Taylor Frankie Paul to be the next star of “The Bachelorette” was always a spicy choice. The reality star’s tribulations in life and love, including a violent incident with a former boyfriend for which she faced charges, were central to the plot of the other reality show in which she appears, Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Housewives.”
For days before what was supposed to be the new season premiere of the fervently followed, long-running ABC series, there was a drip-drip of details about the incident that led to her 2023 arrest. Then, on Thursday, TMZ published a video.
In the footage, Paul is seen physically fighting the former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. They share one child, born in 2024.
At one point, Paul appears to kick Mortensen and forcefully grab his head. At another, she throws what appears to be a barstool at him and is also seen moving to strike him with one
Mortensen is heard yelling at Paul, “Your daughter is sitting right there!” After he walks toward a couch, a child can be heard crying.
CNN has not independently verified the video’s authenticity. TMZ reported that the video was part of legal proceedings.
The incident depicted in the video mirrors the one relating to Paul’s arrest in February 2023, which was detailed in a report by the Salt Lake Tribune. CNN has reached out to Herriman City Police Department for comment.
On Thursday, in an unprecedented move, ABC said it would not move forward with airing the upcoming season of “The Bachelorette,” which had been scheduled to debut Sunday.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Paul, Mortenson, ABC and Hulu (which air ‘The Bachelorette” and “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” respectively) for comment.
In a statement to People on Thursday, Paul’s representative said the reality star “is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security.”
“After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm,” the statement added.
Mortensen told E! News in a statement Thursday that “as anyone who has seen the video will understand, this is a deeply upsetting situation, I am, unfortunately, used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny.”
A history of controversy
‘The Bachelor’ has faced controversy before, but never like this.
In 2018, it was revealed that then “Bachelorette” contestant Lincoln Adim had been convicted of indecent assault and battery just prior to coming on the show.
The year before, Lee Garrett, who had been competing for the heart of Rachel Lindsay, the first Black “Bachelorette,” found himself in a firestorm after racist and sexist tweets from his social media resurfaced.
Longtime host Chris Harrison stepped down after 19 years following backlash spawned by an interview he did with Lindsay in 2021, in which he defended contestant Rachael Kirkconnell being photographed in 2018 at an antebellum plantation-themed party.
Harrison later apologized, saying that he realized he caused harm “by wrongly speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism.”
But never has ABC, the network behind the shows, had to resort to scrapping an entire season, a decision that will reportedly come with a hefty price tag.
ABC has not yet commented on whether the season is permanently shelved or if it will air on some platform in the future. It announced Thursday that a rerun of “American Idol” would air Sunday instead.
Critics will say, however, that there is no way the network didn’t know Paul was a risky choice to begin with, considering much of her troubles had long been highlighted on the small screen.
“The Bachelor” franchise is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon, which shares a parent company with CNN.
Who is Taylor Frankie Paul?
Paul’s run-ins with the law and difficult love affairs have been a standing feature of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Housewives.”
She was charged with assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child related to her arrest, which played a part in the first season of the hit Hulu series.
Some charges relating to Paul’s arrest were dismissed with prejudice while she entered what is called a plea in` abeyance to a third-degree felony count of aggravated assault. Per the plea, the charge would be reduced to a misdemeanor if Paul abided by the terms of her plea agreement for three years, according to an August 2023 report in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Paul is also the subject of a separate, ongoing domestic violence investigation in her home state of Utah. The Draper Police Department confirmed the investigation to CNN.
Hulu paused production on the latest season of Paul’s show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” as reports about Paul’s ongoing legal troubles grew.
Paul has been addressing the controversy in recent days, recently telling “Good Morning America” that it had been “a heavy time.”
“To see the headlines, especially during this time of ‘The Bachelorette’ being released and it’s supposed to be an exciting time,” she said. “I’m a person that will always speak my truth, that’s what I’m known for, and when the time is right I will be.”
Paul, a mother of three, said that her focus was on her children.
“When your life is broadcasted out there in these headlines, it’s like the end of the world, that’s what it feels like,” Paul said. “I’m not going to lie. I will say I’ve been here before, and I got through it, and I’ve shared my story and my light, and I’m hoping I can do that again.”
Paul is credited with forming “MomTok” by pulling together a group of fellow Mormon mothers on TikTok. Many of the members went on to have millions of followers, sharing glimpses of their lives for lucrative sponsorships.
“MomTok” took off after Paul announced in 2022 that she was getting divorced after she said she violated the terms of her open marriage with first husband, Tate Paul, with whom she shares her two oldest children.
She also revealed that she and her now ex-husband had participated in “soft swinging” with other couples in their Utah community, which involved trading sexual partners in their social circle.
That set up the premise for “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” which premiered in September 2024. By then, she had gone public about her relationship with Mortensen, which later also became a storyline on the reality show.
Prior to that show’s launch, Paul told CNN she had no regrets about her life in that moment as a divorced mom but did regret some of her past choices.
“I wish I would’ve never opened my relationship in my marriage. I felt like that was a disaster waiting to happen. It didn’t work out for me,” she said at the time.
She said she wished she would have gone about it differently and not announced it to the world. But, she added, it also got her “where we are today.”
“So, it’s, like, it’s hard to say, you know, but I’m not happy with my old self in those decisions.”
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