ABC Pulls ‘Bachelorette’ Days Before Premiere After Domestic Violence Video Surfaces
Just three days before it was set to premiere, ABC pulled Season 22 of The Bachelorette after a video surfaced showing its lead, Taylor Frankie Paul, in a violent altercation with her ex-partner, Dakota Mortensen. Today, Mortensen was granted temporary custody of the pair’s 2-year-old son as investigators look into domestic violence allegations by Paul.
WHO SHE IS: Paul was a breakout star from Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which premiered in 2024. The show is currently filming its fifth season, but production has been halted following the new reports. However, Paul has a very long, controversial public history here that ABC was aware of going into her selection as the next Bachelorette, leading to many questions about the network’s risky decision to cast her.
The call to pull the entire season came hours after the release of the video of the altercation. The cancellation is expected to cost the network tens of millions of dollars, and puts the future of the reality series in doubt.
INSIDE THE CONTROVERSY
The video footage, reportedly from 2023 and released by TMZ on Thursday, shows Paul throwing chairs at her then-boyfriend. Her child appears in the video and can be heard crying after being struck by a stool. Paul has three children: two with her ex-husband Tate Paul and one with Mortensen. Mortensen and Paul have leveled numerous abuse allegations against one another.
EXISTING LEGAL ISSUES: Paul entered a guilty plea to an aggravated assault charge tied to the 2023 incident. Other charges, including domestic violence in the presence of a child, were dismissed. She is currently under probation.
In a statement shared with NBC News, a representative for Paul’s said the video is the “latest installment of [Mortensen’s] never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child.”
After initially planning to move forward with the show despite the investigation, ABC said Thursday it would not move forward with the season, shifting focus to supporting Paul’s family.
NEW ACCUSATIONS: Earlier this month, news emerged that she and Mortensen are being investigated by police for new allegations of domestic violence that took place last month.
Police were called to Paul’s home as recently as Feb. 24 and 25, 2026, following reports of a domestic dispute. Utah police told PEOPLE Monday that “allegations have been made in both directions.”
According to TMZ, Mortensen filed for a protective order in Utah on Tuesday, where Paul’s ex-husband was also seeking a protective order against her.
THE NETWORK’S PLANABC made a clear bet on Paul, hoping to capitalize on the influencer’s “MomTok” fame while downplaying past controversies (her prior guilty plea was public) — as well as her admission that she and her ex-husband engaged in “soft swinging” with other Mormon couples. She was brought in to revive the Bachelorette franchise with viral energy and attract younger viewers after it had been losing momentum.
The Bachelorette hadn’t aired since 2024. The show had faced internal upheaval and leadership changes.
NOW: ABC is expected to lose tens of millions of dollars. Each episode costs about $2 million to produce, and there are about a dozen episodes on average each season.
The season was already fully produced and scheduled, meaning much of that spending cannot be recovered.
The network has scrambled to contain the social fallout: removing trailers, cast bios, and promotional material, although much of it remained on social media.
THE FINANCIAL HITSponsors are also reacting. Cinnabon ended its partnership, saying the situation no longer aligned with its brand values. Beyond that, the financial cost could be massive.
THE $$: ABC is expected to lose money on licensing fees owed to Warner Bros., which must be paid whether the show airs or not, along with lost advertising revenue, pre-sold brand deals, and marketing spend tied to a premiere that never happened.
LEGAL: There is also fear that Paul and other contestants could sue over lost income or reputational damage. Other parties may also explore legal avenues to recover production and advertising losses.
The franchise has faced lawsuits before — including past claims around casting and confidentiality — but the scale of this situation could open the door to a broader wave of litigation.
In the meantime, some contestants have gone to social media to address the news. TMZ reports that they have been told that they are still under contact and should not speak to the press.