Jessi Draper is sending a message to fans of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives after appearing in a video that hinted at drama with Taylor Frankie Paul.
“OK, respectfully, you guys need to calm down,” Jessi, 34, said in a Wednesday, July 8, Instagram video. “I know that MomTok is all about drama videos and figuring out who’s friends with [whom] and who’s clapping back at each other. But you guys don’t know what’s going on behind-the-scenes. Just remember we film a reality show and you guys don’t know the ins and outs until it comes out. We’re currently filming right now, there is a group of us together. We do not choose who comes to these things and who doesn’t.”
Jessi noted that she has been “very public” in her support of Taylor, who made headlines in March when she and ex Dakota Mortensen had been involved in an alleged domestic incident and season 5 of Mormon Wives halted production. (Local authorities declined to bring charges against Taylor, 32, after an investigation. In April, Us Weekly confirmed that Hulu had resumed production on season 5.)
“I still support Taylor,” Jessi said. “She knows that. I talk to her every single day. Still friends with her. Still love her. I also still have some friendships in MomTok and we also film a show together and work together and we have to be together and we have to make videos together, it’s part of our job. But also, it’s a good thing that the group is able to get along and make videos right now.”
Jessi went on to address the video she appeared in on Whitney Leavitt’s Instagram, where she and fellow Mormon Wives costars danced in a clip which read, “We’re surviving.” The video was released after Taylor seemingly ruffled feathers when she changed her Instagram bio to read, “Creator of Momtok + SLOMW. The Bachelorette. Jesus is king.”
“I actually thought when we made a video for Whitney’s page, it was a positive thing, because you guys know our group has had our issues and some of it’s still ongoing,” she said. “But we were able to get together and do a fun video today. It was not meant to be a bash on anyone. It was not meant to be a dig. It was just that, ‘Hey, we’re all together filming right now and we’re going to make a fun video like the old days.’ Again, you guys don’t know what is going on and the conversations that have happened behind-the-scenes.”
She continued, “But, I’m now getting a ton of hate messages that I’m not supporting Taylor anymore and I’m supporting the other girls. That’s not true. I can be friends with multiple people at once. I can have my opinions. I have defended Taylor in rooms that she has not been in and I have been a really good friend. So I will not have the internet tell me otherwise. I also have friendships again, in the other group and two things can be true. That’s called being an adult and being able to have friendships with multiple people.”
Before concluding her video, Jessi noted that she’s navigating a difficult period in her life — seemingly referring to her divorce from estranged husband Jordan Ngatikaura. (Jordan, 31, filed for divorce from Jessi in March after five years of marriage. He also sought a restraining order, which has since been denied.)
“Also, I’m going through a f***ing hard time in my life so I’d appreciate people not doing this and sending me hate right now, because you have no idea what is going on behind-the-scenes,” Jessi said. “And I just wanted to say that. Stop being parasocial and just enjoy the show when it comes out and you’ll have all the answers.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usmagazine.com ’
