Bachelor Nation, #MomTok furious over violent video of Taylor Frankie Paul
The latest season of ABC’s The Bachelorette has been canceled after a video circulated online of its star, Taylor Frankie Paul, hurling chairs at her ex-boyfriend in front of her toddler daughter in 2023.
The Bachelorette was set to premiere on Sunday. Paul was already doing interviews for the show when ABC parent company Disney announced the cancelation.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson said in a statement.
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Paul is a #MomTok influencer, with over 6 million followers, and the star of Hulu’s reality hit, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
That show recently paused production of its fifth season after reports came out that Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, were being investigated by police in Draper City, Utah for an alleged domestic violence incident in February this year, People reports.
The 2023 video, released by TMZ, shows Paul kicking Mortensen and putting him in a chokehold while Paul’s young daughter is nearby on a couch. Paul then starts throwing metal chairs at Mortensen. One chair appears to graze the child, who begins crying.
Paul was arrested after the 2023 incident, on suspicion of domestic violence. Paul told podcaster Alex Cooper last year that those charges were dropped and denied that she ever hurt her daughter.
In light of the video circulating on the internet, Paul’s public relations team lashed out at Mortensen, with whom she shares a son.
"Releasing an old video, which conveniently omits context, on their son's birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior," a Paul spokesperson told People. "Thankfully, the public has seen this act before and knows who he is and sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both in his actions on the show, and from their own experiences."
Before Paul’s Bachelorette season was canceled, she told People on Wednesday she was disappointed the domestic violence allegations would taint the show.
"Just the timing is hard, and it's a big deal. I feel like every premiere that I've experienced, I've never enjoyed fully, so this is another one ... it's extremely hard, and it took everything to get me here today," Paul told the magazine.
"I'm struggling for sure, but also at the same time I feel like if I don't show up, then I'm just giving these opportunities away and not enjoying what we've worked on and something super exciting that's coming.”
Social media was aghast at the video — and at Disney’s decision to hire Paul in the first place, after she previously faced domestic violence allegations.
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If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org.
Neal joined Mashable’s Social Good team in 2024, editing and writing stories about digital culture and its effects on the environment and marginalized communities. He is the former editorial director of The Advocate and Out magazines, has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, Curbed, and Los Angeles magazine, and is a recipient of the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for LGBTQ Journalist of the Year Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NLGJA). He lives in Los Angeles with his family.
