ABC cancels 'Bachelorette' season with Taylor Frankie Paul, citing 2023 video

In a franchise first, ABC on Thursday dumped the 22nd season of long-running hit "The Bachelorette," which was scheduled to premiere this coming Sunday with reality star Taylor Frankie Paul as the woman looking for love. ABC said it made the decision after a newly released video from 2023. 

In a statement, the network 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."

The video posted Thursday on TMZ showed Paul appearing to repeatedly hit her ex-partner with metal stools as her young daughter watched and cried. Assault allegations have trailed both Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, for years. In 2023, Paul accepted a plea deal to settle an aggravated assault charge, and two felony counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child. In recent days, both Mortensen, 33, and Paul, 31, traded more assault allegations. It's unclear whether the TMZ video was related to the 2023 assault charge.

Later Thursday, Paul issued her own statement on the cancellation through a spokesperson: “Taylor 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 and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm. There are too many women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives. Taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse, retaliation, and public shaming. She is currently exploring all of her options, seeking support, and preparing to own and share her story.”

A police spokesperson in Draper City, Utah, confirmed to People magazine that there was an open domestic violence investigation on Paul and Mortensen.

According to People, the former couple share a 2-year-old son. Paul is also the mother of an 8-year-old daughter — who would have been around 5 in the 2023 video, according to The Associated Press — and a 5-year-old son, both of whom she shares with ex-husband Tate Paul. 

The AP reported the footage begins with Mortensen "shielding himself from Paul with one hand as he shoots phone video with the other." She punches and kicks him, then throws three chairs at him while screaming "You did this!"

“This is all you do, this is the only thing you know how to do is hurt me,” Mortensen says, while pleading with Paul and reminding her that her daughter is watching. A child is heard sobbing, the AP reported, screaming and shouting “mommy!”

Disney earlier this week pulled production of the fifth season of Hulu hit "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives." Paul — a TikTok influencer and founder of so-called "#MomTok," a group of Mormon moms on the social media platform — is a star on that series too.

There have been many instances of canceled-before-they-aired shows getting dropped on the eve of new seasons, but none of this magnitude. Even though their viewership has slid dramatically in recent years — blame audience fatigue and numerous other off- and on-screen controversies — both "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" still remain among the most important unscripted franchises on ABC.

This 22nd season was to be a watershed one, too, if not quite make-or-break: Paul was the first contestant not drawn from the ranks of previous "Bachelor" seasons, but instead was a synergy hire from another Disney show. There were risks (those charges), but the plan was to reenergize the fan base, and bring viewers back. At its height from 2010 to 2012, "The Bachelorette" averaged as many as 9 million viewers, while the 21st season averaged around 2 million. 

ABC did not announce a replacement series. The AP said the network didn't specify what it planned to do with the show's time slot.