By Audrey Elwood, Campus News Editor

Taylor Frankie Paul rose to prominence from a swinging scandal in 2022, subsequently starred in the reality show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and more recently was the titular Bachelorette. 

Within the last week, after the release of a video of her committing domestic violence against her baby daddy Dakota Mortenson, she has lost nearly everything. The damage was so severe that ABC has pulled her season of the Bachelorette mere days before its premiere. 

Paul founded MomTok, and the swinging scandal with her ex-husband led to the show’s initial season. However, the majority of the show has focused on her and Mortenson’s tumultuous relationship, including the domestic violence and Mortenson’s drug use. They have been in a custody agreement over their two-year-old son Ever, with low amounts of contact. 

The documents were released in 2023, but the video was not available to the public until recently. The video was leaked by TMZ on March 19, coincidentally, their son’s birthday. Renewed interest in the case stems from a new domestic violence situation between Paul and Mortenson after her return from the Bachelorette. Hours after the video leaked, ABC decided to pull her season of the Bachelorette indefinitely, from both regular release and streaming.

While filming a new season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” in February, there was a domestic violence incident involving Paul behind the scenes. Reportedly, the other moms refused to film with Paul after the incident. Before the situation became public, the other moms in the show had a Zoom call with Disney executives, warning them about the unstable nature of the situation. 

The files of the 2023 incident were public knowledge, meaning the Disney executives either did not do their due diligence of background checking, or proceeded anyway. They have allegedly lost around $20 million dollars on the filming of the show, and $80 million on ad revenue.

Paul pled guilty to the 2023 incident, ending up with a class three felony, with the condition that she was not allowed to reoffend. Now that she has seemingly reoffended, she can face up to five years of jail time. 

Mortenson and Paul’s previous husband Tate Paul have filed for protective orders (POs). Protective orders differ from restraining orders, as POs are only filed for threats of physical violence, whereas restraining orders are based around restraint from committing an action. With this, her and Mortenson’s child has been placed in emergency full custody with him, alongside her two other children with their father. 

In the February 2023 video, Paul’s daughter was sitting on the couch during the incident. Paul threw chairs at Mortenson, and then allegedly accidentally hit her daughter while the video cut to black. This is where much of the internet backlash has stemmed from.
When season four of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was released last month, it was revealed that Paul had intercourse multiple times with Mortenson in between the announcement of her as the Bachelorette and the filming of the season, including  the night before she left for filming. The season ended with a cliffhanger, regarding whether Paul was pregnant. 

Paul had a reputation of being messy and unfiltered on the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Now it is unsure if the show will continue, with two of her castmates, Jen Affleck and Mikayla Matthews, seemingly moving to California in the last week. Rumors of a Jen Affleck spinoff show have also been released. It has not been confirmed if there is another season or if Paul will be featured. 

If you or anyone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the national domestic violence hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233).