Disney Entertainment announced Thursday that the company would not air the upcoming season of the reality dating show “The Bachelorette” following domestic abuse allegations against this season’s star, Taylor Frankie Paul.
“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 said in a March 19 statement obtained by Northeastern Global News.
Earlier on Thursday, the celebrity and entertainment news agency, TMZ, posted a video it said is from 2023, which purports to show Paul, 31, in an altercation with her former partner, Dakota Mortensen, 33. The video appears to show a chair being thrown at a man while a child cries in the background. NGN was not able to independently confirm the veracity of the clip.
The video was posted after a spokesperson for the Draper City Police told media outlets that the department is investigating claims of domestic assault between Paul and Mortensen from a separate incident that allegedly occurred in February 2026.
Hayat Bearat, director of Northeastern University’s Domestic Violence Institute and an associate clinical professor of law, said she found it “shocking” that ABC, a flagship property of Disney Entertainment and the production company behind “The Bachelorette” did not take action until now.
“ABC waited too long to pull the season,” Bearat told NGN. “Although a welcome decision, this could have led to a very harmful outcome had that video not been leaked.”
Paul was previously charged with a felony count of assault and two felony counts of domestic violence as well as misdemeanor counts of child abuse and criminal mischief for an incident involving Mortensen in 2023, according to Salt Lake City Court Records. The Salt Lake City Tribune later reported that Paul entered a plea in abeyance for the felony charge, which means a defendant will have the charges dismissed if they adhere to certain conditions after a period of time. The other charges were dismissed with prejudice, the newspaper reported.
The 2023 incident was documented in the first season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” a reality show on Hulu starring Paul and a group of other Mormon wives who found fame on TikTok earlier in the 2020s. The show’s fourth season dropped on the streaming service last week.
Despite Paul’s history, ABC, the network behind “The Bachelor” franchise, in which 25 contestants compete for a chance to marry one eligible single, decided to cast her as the lead of their 22nd season.
Bearat said the casting should have never happened given Paul’s widely known history. However, she said she suspects that the network knew the decision would bring in viewers.
“It just goes to show they did this for a good story,” she said, suggesting Paul’s celebrity status and background would appeal to fans.
Other experts echoed this sentiment when speaking with NGN prior to the announcement of the season’s cancellation.
“This is the attention economy,” Amy Pei, an assistant marketing professor who researches influencers and social media, previously told NGN. “If people are already following [an influencer like Paul] and paying attention to her, they’re going to continue to follow her. You can bring in a whole new audience.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source news.northeastern.edu ’
