ABC's "The Bachelorette" has cancelled the upcoming season with "Mormon Housewives" star Taylor Frankie Paul, in the wake of her domestic violence controversy.
The network opted to cancel the upcoming season with Paul, who was set to star as The Bachelorette, in the wake of a video of a 2023 domestic violence incident surfacing online. The decision came last Thursday, after TMZ published a video it claimed showed would-be bachelorette Taylor Frankie Paul physically attacking her then-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, in 2023.
In the video, Paul appears to be grabbing and hitting Mortensen, while also throwing some barstools at him, with their young daughter nearby.
"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," Disney Entertainment said in a statement reported by the Associated Press, New York Times and others.
Paul has three children: two with her ex-husband Tate Paul and one, born in 2024, with Mortensen.
The now-cancelled "Bachelorette" star's representatives said that 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."
NFL football on field. © Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
In the wake of the decision, two popular podcast hosts, Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner, who host the "Giggly Squad" podcast, are speaking out.
They said on the latest episode of their show that if "The Bachelorette" is going to be cancelled for a domestic violence issue, so too should the NFL season.
"If you're gonna pull The Bachelorette season you're gonna have to pull the whole NFL (season)," they said.
"And the NBA, the MLB and golf.
"And the entire government."
The NFL, of course, has had its fair share of domestic violence incidents. Several players who have been accused of domestic violence remain in the league.
Unfortunately, it typically takes a video for people to respond seriously, as we saw with the Ray Rice incident and now, as we're seeing with the Taylor Frankie Paul incident.
The NFL will obviously not be cancelling its season.
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