ABC has cancelled the upcoming 22nd season of The Bachelorette after leaked footage showed the show's lead, Taylor Frankie Paul, physically assaulting her former partner. The season was set to premiere on Sunday, but the network pulled it following the release of video showing Paul kicking and throwing chairs at Dakota Mortensen, with her young daughter present.
Paul, 31, is a TikTok influencer known for appearing on the reality series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. She was arrested in 2023 for domestic violence against Mortensen and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, receiving three years' probation. An ongoing domestic assault investigation is also under way regarding an incident in February 2024, with police stating that allegations have been made by both parties.
The newly leaked video from 2023 shows Paul kicking Mortensen and hurling metal chairs at him, with one striking her five-year-old daughter. An indictment obtained by People magazine confirmed that the child was hit. In the video, Mortensen is heard saying, 'Your daughter just got hit in the head by a metal chair!' as the child cries.
A statement from Disney, which owns ABC, 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's team criticised Mortensen's actions as a 'never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor'.
Production on the latest season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, also a Disney-owned Hulu show, has reportedly been paused. ABC has not announced whether the fully filmed season will air in the future. The network faced criticism last season after reports that winner Devin Strader had a restraining order filed against him in 2017 over physical assault allegations, which he denied.
