Every single new thing I learn about Bachelorette Fail Taylor Frankie Paul, the more aghast I am that this whole debacle unfolded the way it did. To recap, last week, Disney/ABC pulled the plug on the new season of The Bachelorette, starring Taylor Frankie Paul. They did so after a video was released – a video of Paul violently assaulting her partner Dakota Mortensen. Disney hired Paul knowing that she had been charged with domestic violence, but they wanted the controversy and the scandal, so everyone just crossed their fingers and hoped it would work. Now Disney is out $70 million and advertisers are fleeing what used to be one of Disney’s most profitable franchises. Well, considering I just started following this catastrophe last week, I am just now learning that Paul is under investigation for THREE separate domestic violence incidents.
Taylor Frankie Paul is reportedly under investigation following allegations of a third domestic violence incident involving her and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. On Tuesday, March 24, a police spokesperson in Utah confirmed to NBC News that officials were investigating another incident connected to Paul, 31, and her ex, which reportedly occurred in 2024.
The outlet noted that Mortensen, 33, had contacted the state’s West Jordan Police Department last month. However, the spokesman declined to provide further details due to the case being an open investigation. The spokesperson told NBC News that they couldn’t share exact dates regarding the alleged incident, but said that authorities had been reviewing multiple videos.
After rising to fame through MomTok and her hit Hulu reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Utah mom of three Paul, has faced ongoing legal issues stemming from her volatile relationship with her ex, Mortensen.
A heated argument between the two in 2023 landed the TikTok influencer in court on multiple charges, including aggravated assault. Though Paul pleaded guilty to a felony count, she did so under a plea deal that would reduce the charge to a misdemeanor in three years if she abided by the agreement.
Weeks before her season of The Bachelorette was set to air this month, the former couple became involved in another domestic violence investigation that halted production on season 5 of Mormon Wives.
The police department is yet to speak to Paul regarding the alleged third domestic violence incident reported by NBC News on Tuesday, and officials only have the details that Mortensen has provided. The spokesperson noted that investigators had spoken to Paul’s attorney regarding the matter, the outlet reported. Authorities now want Paul to come in for an interview or submit a written statement, the publication stated, citing the spokesman.
So… there was a huge incident in 2023, for which Paul took a plea, and that incident was the one involving the video which just came out last week? Now there’s a 2024 incident where Mortensen also called the police and gave evidence. And in addition to all of that, Paul was assaulting Mortensen as they filmed Mormon Wives earlier this year, and the incident was so bad that it halted production. And after all of that, ABC still put that violent, crazy woman on the Oscar red carpet, and they were pushing her to do a big, splashy promotional rollout for The Bachelorette. I’ve said this whole time that people need to get fired over this at ABC/Disney. This is basically corporate malfeasance.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Hollywood, CA Taylor Frankie Paul Loses Custody Temporarily amid Ongoing Domestic Assault Investigation. Pictured Here: Taylor Frankie Paul at the 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. Pictured: Taylor Frankie Paul BACKGRID USA 20 MARCH 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Hollywood, CA Taylor Frankie Paul Loses Custody Temporarily amid Ongoing Domestic Assault Investigation. Pictured Here: Taylor Frankie Paul at the 98th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. Pictured: Taylor Frankie Paul BACKGRID USA 20 MARCH 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles season 2 premiere of ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ at Paramount Pictures Studio Featuring: Taylor Frankie Paul Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 09 May 2025 Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
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- Los Angeles season 2 premiere of ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ at Paramount Pictures Studio Featuring: Taylor Frankie Paul Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 09 May 2025 Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
I think I saw one of the guys from the show is thinking of suing saying that they knowingly placed the men into a potentially abusive situation. Now do I also think he’s mad he didn’t get his fifteen mins yes, and is there evidence to suggest she and Dakota have a very unhealthy relationship and he’s not an angel also yes.
But I think he’s making a good point. Knowing this how could abc say sure let’s put her into an emotionally intense environment with several men and alcohol.
Yep. Easy way to double-check this line of thought, switch the genders: if this were the next bachelor, what kind of effect could that have had on the women?
Does it make me a bad person that my first thought is ‘ok, who is she sleeping with at Disney/ABC?’
This is beyond a trainwreck at this point, and yes, all the job losses. Wow.
Stephanie at Lainey Gossip has a well researched, thoughtful take.
https://www.laineygossip.com/how-lax-were-the-bachelorettes-rules-in-order-to-facilitate-taylor-frankie-paul-being-cast/
I just watched the final season of SLOMW – holy shit it was dark. It is so clear the TFP should not be on TV or looking for love because that woman was in a mutually abusive relationship and so obviously unwell.
I do not watch any of these shows but all ABC/Disney had to do was pick up the phone and call ME and I could have told them what a bad idea this was…,and I’m NOBODY. Lol
This got me thinking about Jersey Shore: how Ronnie was violent toward Sammie on camera and nobody who was filming it stepped in. And MTV kept him on the show. And they broadcast a DV incident for entertainment. And that was just what we saw on camera. God knows what was happening when cameras weren’t rolling. Society has sunk so low, all for ratings (read: money).
Yes, and there was a sexual assault on Top Model that was not prevented and was edited as cheating. And the pedo Duggars, and so on.
Reality tv is rotten to the core and TV execs are banking on the audience to enjoy the depravity. I’m not shocked at this scandal because I think producers were pretty reasonable to expect there to be no bottom to what their audience will consume.
I quit reality tv somewhere around Project Runway season 5. Everybody who is still watching these shows is part of the problem.
I went down a rabbit hole whilst recovering from surgery and watched the documentaries and interviews about ANTM.
Horrific!
I’ve known many who work on reality tv (writers, producers, camera men). There’s different kinds, and different standards.
I remember once a camera guy expressed concern because he was worried the children of the family he filmed for the episode would be edited to look like monsters, when they were really good kids. He left the job soon after.
I don’t watch these shows because I prefer scripted TV, but it seems to me that from other comments, there is a real dark side to them. Sounds like they are definitely trying to naturalize and normalize horrible people and domestic violence,. I’m not saying they’re the whole reason we are where we are as a society, but they are definitely demonstrating people benefiting massively from being a-holes
The whole premise is depressingly messed up.
That said, the first bachelorette was kind of cute because it turned into a real love match and they are still married. But it tumbled down an “I want to get famous” hill and is now in a litter-filled drainage ditch.
Still, if ABC wants to spend 70 million bucks, I urge them to spend it on me. I’m a mid-50’s divorced woman with 2 kids in college and a bit overweight. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I’m smart, funny and kind. The only social media I do is the career one, and I pride myself on being drama-free. So I guess no one would watch, but I would love to go on the trips and dates LOL.
I would watch! You sound awesome and I can relate to most of what you said, minus the divorced part!
Wait, how many domestic violence incidents were there? I’m counting 4. 1) The incident in 2023 of Paul throwing a chair, the video of which was recently released. 2) Then this article is saying there was one incident in 2024, 3) and another incident in 2025 that stopped production of SLOMW in season 5. Then finally was the alleged assault in February of this year (2026) that led Mortensen to file for a restraining order and custody of their kids. Can someone write all these up for us?? I can’t keep it straight!
Wait — the news is that she is still getting fully paid for the season!??! What!?
Yeah, wtf. Is there no morals clause that would prevent that?
Well, they knew what she was when they hired her. They can’t fall back on a morals clause when they had all the information before they contracted her.
The full season of this show is generally filmed months before airing. They had already filmed the full season and she did the work. She fulfilled her contractual obligation and the network was the one to breach the contract. It isn’t her fault they ignored her past behavior. I’m sure everyone would want to get paid for work already performed. This season was filmed between October and December of last year. That includes the final courtship and the final pick. In the can as they say.
I’m aghast that she not only has a child, but exposes her child to her own violent tendencies.
The chair she threw at Dakota hit their child and gave her a goose egg.
Can whoever she got “engaged” to come out of hiding now or does some guy have to lie low indefinitely until the controversy dies down and they run this season on Disney plus?
If the franchise continues, look for him to be the next Bachelor… lol
She’s also being investigated for violating her probation by traveling for the show. How stupid and/or entitled can someone be?
I never understood why they hired her to begin with. She’s not attractive, and she looks like she can fit several jellybeans up each side of that nose. I always thought the Bachelorette casting would at least pick someone pretty. But she’s just so mousy and unappealing. I guess the outside matches the inside.