In the aftermath of ABC's decision toshelve Taylor Frankie Paul's season ofThe Bachelorette, a recently published report claims that not only were executives of the longtime reality series had been warned about it by Paul'sThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wivescostars.
Inaudio obtained, but not published, by NBC News, the ladies of "MomTok" — which includes Jessi Ngatikaura, Jennifer Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Whitney Leavitt, Mikayla Matthews, Layla Taylor and Mirana McWhorter — allegedly told ABC executives during a meeting held on March 7 that they had concerns about continuing their Hulu reality series with Paul.
During the meeting, cast members reportedly told execs they were concerned for their brand and their careers afteralleged incidentsbetween Paul and on-again-off-again partner, Dakota Mortensen.
Paul has been the subject of near-constant controversy since she founded MomTok, the community of Mormon influencers whose livesMormon Wiveschronicles. She wasarrestedfor alleged domestic violence in 2023 after an altercation with Mortensen, ultimately beingchargedwith misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, after she allegedly threw a chair at Mortensen that instead hit their daughter. Paul eventuallypleaded guiltyin abeyance to aggravated assault, which means that if she complies with the terms of the plea, the charge will be dismissed. All other charges were also dismissed.
News of a separate, more recent reported domestic assault incident made the rounds on Monday in the lead-up to Paul's debut as theBachelorette. A spokesperson for the Draper City police Department in Utah confirmed toPEOPLEthat "allegations have been made in both directions" and "contact was made with involved parties on [Feb.] 24th and 25th."
NBC News reports that during the alleged 30-minute Zoom, the cast "gave accounts of Paul's alleged behavior" and "repeatedly referenced 'distressing' and 'upsetting' video recordings of Paul's alleged conduct." The outlet notes that none of the stars detailed the contents of the referenced videos, nor did they play them on the call.
"A cast member called it 'concerning' that no one at Disney or Hulu seemed to want to know what is in the videos," the report states.
One cast member allegedly told execs: "It's a dangerous situation, it's a sad situation, and we don't know how to navigate it, because Taylor is our friend."
A source told NBC News that the production company "engaged a seasoned law firm to conduct an investigation of the competing and conflicting allegations that Taylor and Dakota had toward one another." They added, "It would have been inappropriate to engage in a dialogue regarding an ongoing investigation."
While a source close to the situation confirmed toEntertainment Weeklythat there is an ongoing investigation, they could not discuss said ongoing investigation.
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Almost two weeks after the reported meeting,production on season 5 of the reality series was officially pausedas police opened an investigation into an alleged second domestic assault incident between Paul and Mortensen.
Costar Matthewsrevealed that it was the women of the cast that made the decisionto pause production. "It was a decision that all us girls came up with and agreed on. We didn't feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening," Matthews said when a fan asked if the show was "actually on pause" duringan Instagram Q&Aon Thursday.
Although some assumed the other women in theMormon Wivescast were jealous of Paul's new gig, costar Ngatikaurashot down that theoryon Tuesday. She commented on an Instagram post from influencer Zack Peter, who speculated about unverified reports of cast jealousy, writing, "It was never a jealousy thing lol."
A source close to the matter told EW that cameras were not rolling when the incident took place, and claimed that Paul's children were not present. And another source close to the matter told EW that Mortensen's "number one priority here is protecting" his and Paul's son, Ever.
"He knew there was a possibility it could come out," the source said, "but he was not going to be the one to proactively do that because he has always wanted a decent relationship with Taylor. It's been really hard to achieve that, but he wants to co-parent well."
Inan exclusive interview with Paulon Tuesday, she implied toEWthat Mortensen was not aligned with her desires to keep their legal issues out of the media.
"I actually took action about a few weeks ago. I'm just doing third-party everything — pick-up, drop-offs, communication — so no contact right now for me," she toldEWof her current status with Mortensen. "I think that's the best case, honestly, because clearly it's just not to a point of us getting along, so I wanted to take the best action I could. … I didn't want to bring anything to the public eye, making it a bigger deal for the sake of my son, and just everything about to come out. But that wasn't the plan for [Mortensen]."
Things took another turn on Thursday, whenTMZ publisheda video of the 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul prior to the series premiere of her showThe Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. In that footage, Paul could be seen throwing a chair in front of her eldest child and attempting to put Mortensen into a headlock.
Soon after, a representative for Disney Entertainment Televisionconfirmed that ABC was not moving forwardwith the latest season ofThe Bacheloretteon Thursday — just three days before the season was set to premiere. "In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season ofThe Bacheloretteat this time, and our focus is on supporting the family," a spokesperson said in a statement to EW.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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