Taylor Frankie Paul’s upcoming season of “The Bachelorette” has been pulled from ABC amid a scandal involving domestic violence allegations against the new lead.
“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,” Disney said in a statement.
On Thursday, TMZ shared a video from the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star’s 2023 domestic violence incident, purportedly showing the reality star throwing several metal barstools at her then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. One chair even appears to inadvertently hit her daughter.
Paul was set to lead “The Bachelorette” Season 22, which would have premiered Sunday. The star would have been the franchise’s first lead to have never appeared on a prior season of the ABC reality franchise.
Representatives for Paul did not return TheWrap’s request for comment. Earlier Thursday, reps for the reality star said that the 2023 video leak was another fold in Mortensen’s “pattern of manipulation.”
“Releasing an old video, which conveniently omits context, on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior,” the rep said. “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.”
At the time of the 2023 incident, Paul was arrested and pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault. She was then put on a 3-year probation, which is set to end this August.
Reps for Mortensen claimed Wednesday that he did not “proactively” leak news of the domestic violence investigation ahead of Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette.” Instead, he stated his No. 1 priority is protecting their 2-year-old son, Ever.
Season 4 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” saw Paul rekindle her relationship with Mortensen. The couple, who has had a complicated on-and-off relationship since the Hulu series’ start, slept together several times in the most recent batch of episodes, including the night before she left to tape “The Bachelorette.”
On Monday, a separate domestic violence investigation was made into Paul and Mortensen. In turn, production then paused on Season 5 of the Hulu reality series after allegations were reportedly made against both of parents.
Paul’s season even got a post-Oscars boost on Sunday night, with former “Bachelorettes” coming together for a “Before the First Rose” special to give advice to Paul. However, alumni such as Sydney Warner and Charity Lawson expressed their concern with the network’s choice.
“Dating shows are not for you to come on and find your healing,” Lawson said in a TikTok video on Monday. “The mental health of contestants should never be compromised so severely for ratings… People genuinely need help and we are witnessing that live.”
