ABC’s cancellation of the forthcoming season of “The Bachelorette.” Taylor Frankie Paul was lined up to be this season’s breakout star. The announcement comes just three days before the show’s scheduled debut. It comes in the wake of highly disturbing surveillance videos that have raised significant questions about Paul’s home life. The network pegged the recently released clip as their main reason for pulling the plug. So, they are focusing on the safety and well-being of all party members.
Taylor Frankie Paul became well known for starring on Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. With 6.1 million followers on TikTok at the time of her casting, a reality dating series seemed like an unexpected fit for many. Paul is popular in the #MomTok scene — a collective of women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discussing their life experiences. Her casting was intended to attract a younger audience to the franchise.
Paul’s firestorm of controversy intensified when TMZ published a video that put him on the hot seat. In this footage, we found her facing down a swat team with her ex husband, Dakota Mortensen. In this video, Paul seems to have been trying to deter Mortensen while he recorded her with a camera phone. Then a second video emerged, showing Paul’s violent tirade. He punched, kicked, and threw chairs in a rage-filled confrontation—all while their then toddler-aged daughter might have seen.
Taylor Frankie Paul, a prominent TikTok influencer with millions of followers, was charged in 2023 with aggravated assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child. In what was then an ongoing domestic violence investigation involving both Paul and Mortensen, Morton and Paul accused each other of assaulting one another. Only after Paul’s representative announced that she had suffered abuse for years did she thank ABC for standing with her while she works to keep her family safe and secure. After years of quietly suffering extreme emotional and physical harm, Taylor is ready to speak out. She has summoned the fortitude to confront her perpetrator, and she is taking transformative action to protect herself and her children from further violence.
Everyone on the production was hugely excited at the prospect of creating an entirely different narrative with Paul’s presence. During their deliberation, worries about their own financial situation made them reconsider. Mikayla Matthews, one of the cast members, expressed discomfort with the situation, stating, “We didn’t feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening.”
Disney Entertainment Television issued a statement regarding the cancellation: “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.”
Choosing Taylor Frankie Paul was a risk, and I think that ultimately worked out in the movie’s favor. It had the power to completely change the audience demographic for “The Bachelorette.” Kate Casey noted that “the thinking was probably, ‘We’re going to get a new audience’ and the new audience is really the most coveted in all of entertainment.” Given the recent events, it became clear that these intentions would have to be set aside for the time being.
