A network TV shocker has just imploded on the national scene. This Sunday, March 22nd, ABC was set to air the premiere of its latest season of The Bachelorette. A lot of heavy promotion poured into this show already. Taylor Frankie Paul was set as the lead in the show. Paul has risen in stardom thanks to appearing on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. As quickly as her star has risen, its now plummeted and taken The Bachelorette with it.
We’re not entirely sure what Disney was expecting to happen here. Paul and her former partner, Dakota Mortensen had such a powerfully acrimonious relationship that it resulted in a case of alleged domestic violence. In fact, the 1st season of Mormon Wives aired the arrest Maybe things would’ve been different if producers had seen the tape of the incident. The rest of the world has now.
The video, which we will not include here but you can find elsewhere, was shared online of the 2023 incident. Making the matter scarier and more harrowing was that the then couple’s 1-year-old was in the room when it was happening. Allegedly he was struck by a chair that Paul threw, likely intending to hit Mortensen.
Fallout Hits ABC and Reality TV Production
The fallout from the video going public has been swift. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has paused filming of its 5th season. Now, ABC is pulling the plug on airing The Bachelorette. This is pretty huge in the land of network television. Pulling an episode of something is one problem. Now ABC will have to try and fill the time slot of a heavily hyped show. Not to mention, they still have to deal with the fallout of one of their stars allegedly committing domestic abuse.
We can only wish the best for those involved. Domestic abuse is a terrifying thing and can happen in even happy appearing households. We report on the business side of these things but the human element can’t be ignored. Whatever comes from this, we hope that the people involved get the healing and help they need.
