ABC has cancelled the new season of The Bachelorette after leaked video showed its star, Taylor Frankie Paul, physically assaulting her former partner. The 22nd season, due to air on Sunday, was pulled after footage from 2023 emerged of Paul kicking and throwing metal chairs at her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, with her young daughter present.
The video, released on Thursday, shows Paul's daughter being struck by a chair. Mortensen is heard saying, 'Your daughter just got hit in the head by a metal chair!' An indictment obtained by People magazine confirms that Paul threw heavy metal chairs at Mortensen, with the child also hit. Paul pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2023 and is currently serving three years' probation.
In a statement, a Disney spokesperson said: '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.' Paul had previously commented on an ongoing domestic assault investigation, describing it as 'really difficult and heavy,' but the new footage prompted the network's swift action.
Paul's team criticised Mortensen in a statement, calling his actions 'a never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor' and 'a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behaviour.' The Draper City police department confirmed that allegations have been made by both parties in the ongoing investigation.
The cancellation follows controversy earlier this year when ABC faced criticism after it emerged that the winner of the previous Bachelorette season, Devin Strader, had a restraining order filed against him in 2017 over allegations of physical assault. Strader denied the claims, and the order was never granted. Production on Paul's other show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, has also been paused.
