Summary
- ABC canceled Season 22 of The Bachelorette on March 19, just three days before its scheduled premiere, after TMZ released 2023 video footage of Taylor Frankie Paul attacking her ex Dakota Mortensen with her daughter in the room.
- Paul’s casting was already controversial — her 2023 domestic violence arrest was public knowledge and had been featured prominently in Season 1 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
- The fallout was swift and far-reaching: sponsors pulled out, Mormon Wives cast members raised alarms with ABC executives, and the network stands to lose tens of millions of dollars
Reality TV has never exactly been a bastion of careful decision-making. But even by Bachelor Nation’s gloriously chaotic standards, the implosion of Taylor Frankie Paul‘s season of The Bachelorette is something we haven’t quite seen before — a slow-motion catastrophe that, in retrospect, had its ending written into the premise from day one.
Season 22 of The Bachelorette was canceled on March 19, just three days before it was set to premiere on ABC. The stated reason was a newly surfaced video. TMZ posted footage of a 2023 incident in which Paul is seen seemingly attacking her then-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, and throwing multiple chairs at him — one of which struck her daughter.
Disney’s response was swift and blunt. “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 spokesperson said.
The thing is — none of this should have been a surprise.
The Red Flags Were Hiding in Plain Sight
The Mormon Wives star was cast as the next Bachelorette lead when news of her 2023 arrest was already fully public. The incident was covered during Season 1 of the Hulu series, and her casting drew immediate backlash because of her past domestic violence arrest.
Paul was charged with assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child in the 2023 incident. Court records indicate that she pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge in August 2025. That’s not ancient history. That’s months before cameras rolled.
And yet, a source told the outlet ABC had not seen the video prior to selecting Paul as the next Bachelorette. Cool vetting process, everyone.
Paul was announced as the Bachelorette on September 10, 2025, on Alex Cooper‘s Call Her Daddy podcast — a casting choice framed as bold, franchise-saving programming. The MomToker has 6.1 million followers on TikTok and 2.3 million on Instagram. Paul was tapped as the upcoming Bachelorette last September, a shock that fans hoped would revive a dying franchise.
In other words: ABC knew exactly who she was — and apparently thought controversy was the same thing as appeal.
The Dominoes Started Falling Before Premiere Week
Cast members from Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives told ABC executives at a March 7 Zoom meeting that they had concerns about continuing the show if “MomTok” founder Taylor Frankie Paul remained involved, according to audio obtained by NBC News.
That’s two weeks before the season was supposed to air. The alarm bells were ringing loudly.
One cast member said they did not feel comfortable filming while Paul is being investigated. “It’s a dangerous situation, it’s a sad situation, and we don’t know how to navigate it, because Taylor is our friend,” the cast member said to ABC brass at the virtual meeting.
The Draper City Police Department told People that Paul and Mortensen, who share a 2-year-old child, are connected to an open “domestic assault investigation” with allegations made “in both directions.”
Meanwhile, Paul continued the press tour. She appeared on Good Morning America on March 18 and said, “It’s been a heavy time to see the headlines, especially during this time of ‘The Bachelorette’ being released and it’s supposed to be an exciting time.”
At a press preview on March 17, she said of the investigation, “Honestly, just like, my heart hurts to see it, to go through it, especially at this time. Just the timing is hard, and it’s a big deal.”
The Fallout Was Instant — and Expensive
Once the video hit, everything collapsed at once. Cinnabon terminated its collaboration with both The Bachelorette and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, saying the situation “no longer aligns with our brand values.” The partnership had barely launched.
A source told People that the Mormon Wives cast is now distancing themselves from Paul: “None of the women want to be associated with her.”
The financial damage is equally sobering. ABC could be out tens of millions of dollars if it can’t find a way to salvage The Bachelorette. That includes license fees to Warner Bros. Unscripted TV, marketing dollars, and other losses.
Former Bachelorette lead DeAnna Pappas wasn’t mincing words. She suggested on The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast that the network may be operating in “crisis control,” saying, “I know that they are all scrambling to kind of put a Band-Aid over this.”
A Season That Never Had a Chance
For her part, Paul’s spokesperson framed her cancellation as a form of protection. A spokesperson for Paul said she is “very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security. After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser.”
A representative for Mortensen issued a statement saying his priority is protecting the couple’s young son and that he hopes to maintain a cooperative co-parenting relationship with Paul.
What’s left in the rubble is a lesson the franchise probably already knew but chose to ignore: casting someone specifically because their life is on fire doesn’t mean the fire will stay contained to the screen. Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette didn’t fail at the finish line. It was never going to make it there.
