ABC has decided to cancel Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette amid allegations of her involvement in a domestic violence dispute.
“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 told Luxury Handbag Shopping in a Thursday, March 19, statement.
Hours earlier, TMZ released footage of Taylor throwing a chair at ex Dakota Mortensen in a 2023 incident. A rep for Taylor addressed the footage, noting that the act was “reprehensible.” TMZ has since reportedly obtained court documents that show Dakota has filed a protective order against Taylor in Utah and requested temporary custody of their son, Ever, 2.
Less than one week before the Sunday, March 22, premiere of Taylor’s Bachelorette season, news broke on Monday, March 16, that she and Dakota were involved in an alleged altercation. A spokesperson for Utah’s Draper City Police Department confirmed to Luxury Handbag Shopping that there is an open “domestic assault investigation” into the alleged dispute. “Allegations have been made in both directions,” per the authorities, who made contact with the “involved parties on [February] 24th and 25th.”
In the wake of the scandal, Taylor’s Bachelorette contestants put on a united front behind the scenes.
“The men on The Bachelorette have all been rallying around each other in solidarity and feel extremely upset and let down by Taylor and the situation,” a source exclusively told Us.
Taylor’s on-off relationship with Dakota, 33, has been documented on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives since 2024. Production halted on season 5 of the Hulu reality series after the pair’s latest incident.
Following a previous dispute with Dakota, Taylor was arrested in February 2023 and charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse with injury and criminal mischief. She pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, while the other charges were dismissed.
Ahead of her Bachelorette debut, Taylor opened up about her intentions in her Us cover story, which was published in March.
“There was no other reason for me to do this other than I wanted to get outside of Utah and the toxicity that I’m in and venture off and really do something for myself,” she explained.
Taylor — who also shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul — elaborated on her reasons for taking a chance on the reality dating show.
“Who gets this opportunity as a single mom to just purely focus on dating and love and yourself? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “That is why I was there. And anyone that doesn’t want to believe that, that’s their own issue.”
Taylor also addressed her ongoing fraught dynamic with Dakota at the time.
“It was hard because I’m, obviously, a part of that — it’s not like I am pointing the finger like, ‘He is [the toxic one].’ It takes two to tango. We were just not progressing,” she told Us. “We like each other sometimes, and then we fight. It’s really hard to explain to people, and unless you’ve been in that situation, it is hard to understand. If I could just snap out of it, trust me, I would. It’s just a lot harder said than done.”
When pressed about how she assured her Bachelorette suitors that she was ready to move on from Dakota, Taylor noted “it was a choice” to embrace the opportunity.
“Ready, at the end of the day, is a decision,” she said. “So I made the decision to leave for two months and try. I reassured them that was why I was here.”
The Bachelorette season 22 premieres on ABC Sunday, March 22, at 8 p.m. ET and streams the next day on Hulu.
