ABC is pulling the 22nd season of ‘The Bachelorette’ days ahead of its scheduled release after TMZ published a 2023 video of its star, Frankie Taylor Paul, attacking her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
You may have already seen the dramatic promos for the 22nd season of “The Bachelorette.”
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “THE BACHELORETTE”)
TAYLOR FRANKIE PAUL: I’m ready to fall in love. I’m ready to find my person.
FADEL: It was supposed to start on Sunday, but not anymore. ABC has pulled the already-filmed season after a video leak Thursday of this year’s bachelorette. Taylor Frankie Paul is seen physically attacking her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, in the presence of a child. Both Paul and Mortensen also star on the Hulu show “The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives.” Production for that show is now also on hold. NPR’s Chloe Veltman is here to catch us up on all this. Hey, Chloe.
CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Leila.
FADEL: All right, so how did ABC decide to cancel this season of “The Bachelorette”?
VELTMAN: Well, ABC took the decision after celebrity news outlet TMZ published a video yesterday, Thursday, showing Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen in a fight. Mortensen shot the video in 2023, and he’s holding what seems to be his phone, filming what’s going on, while she’s got him in a headlock. Later, she throws chairs at him.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAKOTA MORTENSEN: Yeah. See, Taylor, this is all you do. It’s the only thing you know how to do, is hurt me.
VELTMAN: There’s also a child, who Mortensen describes as Paul’s daughter, in the video.
FADEL: Yeah. I did watch some of that video. Did Paul face any consequences over that?
VELTMAN: Yes. Court records obtained by NPR show that the reality TV star pled guilty to aggravated assault for the fight shown in this video, and a plea agreement was reached. She’s been serving 36 months of probation. A police spokesperson in Draper, Utah, told People magazine this week that Paul and Mortensen are being investigated in connection with another more recent domestic assault investigation. NPR has not been able to independently confirm this. But we have reached out to the Draper Police Department and both Paul and Mortensen’s reps. So far, no response. However, two days ago, Paul spoke with entertainment tonight about the allegations.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT”)
PAUL: There is more to the story, and it just sucks to be known as, like, crazy girl, if you will, because it’s just not the case.
VELTMAN: She says she’s been misunderstood for years and is upset by this week’s news headlines.
FADEL: I mean, if we at NPR could find these court records, surely “The Bachelorette” could, too – the people at “The Bachelorette.” Do we know if the producers there knew about these domestic abuse investigations?
VELTMAN: We don’t know. NPR reached out to representatives of Disney, Hulu and ABC for comment. But Hollywood entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel says cast members are usually very carefully vetted before these big productions.
JONATHAN HANDEL: This is quite a failure of the sort of vetting that should be done before casting somebody and before moving ahead with a show.
VELTMAN: And Handel says he thinks they probably cast her and stuck with their decision until this violent video came out because it would be good for ratings.
HANDEL: The public does have a taste for people who break rules.
FADEL: So what else do we know?
VELTMAN: Court records obtained by NPR show that Taylor Frankie Paul’s ex, Dakota Mortensen, just yesterday filed a protective order against Paul in the 3rd Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County. A hearing is scheduled for next month.
FADEL: I mean, Chloe, it must have been very expensive to make this season that’s already been filmed. So cutting the show just days before it was going to premiere couldn’t have been an easy decision for the TV network, right?
VELTMAN: Yeah, I think that’s right, Leila. These shows cost millions of dollars to make. Disney promoted “The Bachelorette” using the Oscars just last weekend, and Frankie Taylor Paul even made an appearance on the red carpet. So now ABC has to fill the empty air space with something else.
FADEL: That’s NPR’s Chloe Veltman. Chloe, thank you for your reporting.
VELTMAN: My pleasure, Leila.
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