Just days before its scheduled Sunday premiere, ABC has pulled the plug on Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette.” The unprecedented decision comes after the release of a 2023 video showing the reality star in a violent altercation with her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, during which her young daughter was struck by a thrown chair. Disney Entertainment Television confirmed the cancellation in a statement Thursday, saying, “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”.
The footage shows Paul, 31, hurling multiple metal chairs at Mortensen, 33, while her now-8-year-old daughter, Indy, can be heard crying in the background. At one point, Mortensen exclaims, “Your daughter just got hit in the head by a metal chair.” The video matches the details from Paul’s February 2023 arrest, where she was initially charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse with injury, and criminal mischief. She later pleaded guilty to a single felony aggravated assault charge and received 36 months of probation, with the charge set to be reduced to a misdemeanor in August 2026 if she complied with all terms.
The cancellation didn’t happen in a vacuum. Just days earlier, production on Paul’s other hit show, Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” was paused indefinitely due to a separate domestic assault investigation involving Paul and Mortensen from an alleged February 2026 incident. The Draper City Police Department confirmed an open investigation with allegations “made in both directions,” and contact was made with both parties on February 24 and 25. The timing couldn’t have been worse for ABC, which had already filmed the entire season and had Paul doing a full press tour, including appearances on “Good Morning America” just Wednesday and a press dinner in New York.
Paul was already an unconventional choice for the franchise’s lead. Unlike every previous Bachelorette, she had never appeared on a “Bachelor” season before being cast. Her casting was seen as a synergy play by Disney, which owns both ABC and Hulu, leveraging her massive following from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”. She also negotiated an unprecedented exception to the show’s ironclad no-phone rule, securing full access to stay in contact with her three children during filming. The season was even promoted with the tagline, “If you don’t fit the mold, break it”.
Paul’s legal exposure may be far from over. Legal experts tell Us Weekly that the new domestic assault investigation could violate the terms of her 2023 plea deal. Criminal defense attorney R.J. Dreiling explained, “Even if there ultimately isn’t enough to formally charge her in the most recent case, the prosecutor could still treat it as a probation violation – potentially moving to revoke her prior deal and seek custody time” . Another expert noted that if a violation is found, “the felony charge may be reinstated,” and Paul could face jail time . For now, ABC will air an “American Idol” rerun in the Bachelorette’s Sunday timeslot . Cinnabon has already dropped Paul and her castmates from a brand deal, saying the sponsorship “no longer aligns with our brand values”.
