Taylor Frankie Paul might be at the center of The Bachelorette drama for now, but one of her suitors had his own drama a few years ago.
Brad Ledford, a 29-year-old cowboy and entrepreneur from Newport Beach, California, was one of 22 men vying for Paul’s heart on her season of the ABC reality dating series. However, viewers are unlikely to witness how their story unfolded as the network pulled the season days before its premiere following reports of an alleged domestic violence incident involving the show’s lead and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, with whom she shares a son.
In a new video posted on his Instagram Story Monday, Ledford said he’s “not gonna dive into my full opinion on the whole Bachelorette situation,” but that he knows God has “already forgiven Taylor.”
“Not gonna dive into my full opinion on the whole Bachelorette situation. Obviously a lot of questions about it. I will say that I could care less about a TV show not airing right now. There’s real kids involved, real family involved, and I want the best for them. I want the best for Taylor’s kids. I want the best for Taylor,” he added. “God’s love has no bounds. It knows no boundaries. He’s forgiven me for many things, and he’s already forgiven Taylor. I want Taylor to find that piece and I want her kids to have that peace in the future more than anything, and I think they can, you know, it’s there for them if they want it.”
Bachelorette fans got a taste of who Ledford is when the cast was revealed last month. His bio read, “Lassoing for love! If Taylor is searching for a handsome California cowboy, she won’t have to look any further than Brad. His best friend is his horse, Gus, whom he partners with on all his cowboy jobs. When he’s not on the ranch, Brad enjoys swing dancing, hanging at the beach and listening to Adele. This fearless romantic is ready to start a family and prides himself on being a generous, loving partner. We can’t wait to see if he can giddy up his way into our Bachelorette’s heart.”
But there’s actually more to Ledford’s backstory. When he was 17 years old, he was involved in the 2014 car crash that paralyzed former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn, who was 18 years old at the time.
In a 2017 lawsuit deposition, Ledford said he and Cawthorn were headed back to North Carolina after a spring break trip in Florida when Ledford fell asleep at the wheel and crashed the car into a concrete construction barrier. At the time of the accident, Ledford said Cawthorn had his feet propped up on the dashboard.
The Bachelorette contestant also said in his deposition that after he exited the vehicle through a window, he “unbuckled Madison and proceeded to pull him out while a bystander came in and helped me,” The Washington Post previously reported.
But during a 2017 chapel speech, Cawthorn detailed a different account of the crash that left him partially paralyzed and reliant on a wheelchair. “He was my brother, my best friend. And he leaves me in a car to die in a fiery tomb. He runs to safety deep in the woods and just leaves me in a burning car as the flames start to lick my legs and curl up and burn my left side,” the former congressman said, adding that he was “declared dead on the scene.”
Ledford later told The Washington Post that Cawthorn’s statements were “false.” He said, “It hurt very badly that he would say something as false as that. That is not at all what happened. I pulled him out of the car the second that I was able to get out of the car.” Accident records from the Florida Highway Patrol also listed Cawthorn as incapacitated and in critical condition after the crash, but he was not declared dead.
The pair ended up reconciling a few years later, and Ledford said that once they reconnected, Cawthorn told him “that he didn’t believe those things anymore” regarding the crash claims.
Cawthorn served in Congress from 2021 to 2023, but lost his reelection bid in the 2022 Republican primary.
Elsewhere in his video shared on social media Monday, Ledford said he feels “ABC made the right decision for right now” to shelve season 22 of The Bachelorette.
“I think the biggest bummer is just that some of these guys on the show were incredible,” he added. “They’ve got incredible stories, really good testimonies, some stuff that I think a lot of America could benefit from hearing. And I hope that y’all do get to hear that in some way, shape or form. Maybe it’s on their own posts and their own platforms or it’s on a show that they’re on in the future or something, but there’s some incredible guys on the season.”
The network ultimately decided to pull the season after TMZ also released a video of what led to Paul’s arrest in 2023 for another domestic violence incident involving Mortensen. She pled guilty to aggravated assault at the time and the incident was detailed on Paul’s other reality series, Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
A Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson told THR last week, “In light of the newly released video that 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.”
