ABC has canceled Season 22 of The Bachelorette after a 2023 video of Taylor Frankie Paul — who was set to lead the new season — fighting her ex-boyfriend went viral.
The entire upcoming season of The Bachelorette was canceled on Thursday, just three days before it was set to premiere. In the viral video, Paul can be seen attacking reality TV personality Dakota Mortensen and hurling a metal barstool at him while her child is present.
“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 told People.
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The new season of The Bachelorette was set to premiere on Sunday.
But on Thursday, TMZ published the video footage, which the outlet said was used as evidence in Paul’s domestic violence case in which she later pled guilty to aggravated assault, resulting on her being placed on three years of probation — set to end in August.
If Paul stays out of trouble until then, the conviction will not appear on her record, TMZ noted, adding that prosecutors dropped four other charges — including domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse, and criminal mischief — as part of the plea deal.
A police report from the incident also said that the 5-year-old girl present during the fight was struck and ended up with a “goose egg on her head.”
“ABC filmed an entire season of The Bachelorette before canceling it days before its premiere after TMZ released a video showing lead Taylor Frankie Paul throwing chairs at her ex-boyfriend,” one X user noted, sharing a trailer for the new season.
Watch Below:
“For those of you that don’t now me, I’m Taylor Frankie Paul, your new bachelorette,” the 31-year-old says in the trailer. “My rise to fame has been sudden, it was a huge deal, which led to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
“I’ve been criticized, I’ve been judged, and I’ve been rejected, but anyone that takes the time to get to know me will see that I’m actually a genuine person, and I mean well,” Paul adds.
Paul is the mother of three children, her 8-year-old daughter, Indy, and 5-year-old son, Ocean, whom she shares with her ex-husband, Tate Paul. She also has a 2-year-old son, Ever, whom she shares with her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
She and her husband parted ways in 2022, after a “soft-swinging” scandal, People reported. Earlier this year, Paul confirmed her split from Mortensen.
Recently, a source told People that filming has apparently been halted for Season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives due to “some pretty serious stuff happening regarding [Paul’s] past.”
A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department, meanwhile, told the magazine that there is an open “domestic assault investigation” involving Paul and Mortensen.
“It’s sad to see the latest installment of his never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child,” a representative for Paul told People.
The representative went on to suggest that Mortensen had released “an old video” that lacked context in an “attempt to distract from his own behavior.”
“Thankfully, the public has seen this act before and knows who he is and sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both in his actions on the show and from their own experiences,” Paul’s representative added.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
