The Bachelorette and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul is under investigation for an alleged third domestic violence incident involving her and ex Dakota Mortensen, according to a report NBC News published Wednesday morning.
In the outlet’s report, Mortensen contacted the West Jordan, Utah, Police Department last month with domestic violence allegations against Paul, which stemmed from an incident that occurred in 2024, a police spokesman told NBC. Mortensen could not provide further details and it’s an open investigation.
The spokesperson said the department is reviewing multiple videos in connection with the alleged incident to determine additional details and timelines. NBC, in a previous report, said Mormon Wives castmembers had cited circulating videos around a past incident during a Zoom call with ABC executives before the network pulled The Bachelorette.
Currently, the police department only has Mortensen’s side of the alleged 2024 incident. They have not spoken to Paul yet, but investigators have talked with her attorney. Paul is to either submit a written statement or cooperate with an interview to help the investigation.
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Paul’s reps and they declined to comment.
The news of another alleged domestic incident comes after last week, when ABC decided to pull season 22 of The Bachelorette just three days before its scheduled premiere date of Sunday, March 22.
Earlier that day, TMZ published a video showing the events that led to Paul’s 2023 arrest following an argument with Mortensen, with whom she shares a son, Ever True. She later pled guilty to aggravated assault, and the incident was documented in the pilot episode of the popular Hulu series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Paul shared a statement with THR after her season was pulled from the network: “It’s sad to see the latest installment of his never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child. Releasing an old video, which conveniently omits context, on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior. Thankfully, the public has seen this act before and knows who he is and sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both in his actions on the show, and from their own experiences.”
Prior to footage of their fight being leaked, a few days before, it was reported that production had been halted on the fifth season of Mormon Wives amid news of Paul’s second alleged domestic incident that happened last month — after she completed filming for Bachelorette.
A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department confirmed to People that there’s an open “domestic assault investigation” between Paul and Mortensen. Authorities also said that “allegations have been made in both directions” and “contact was made with involved parties on [Feb.] 24th and 25th.”
While promoting her Bachelorette season in New York City last week, before it was pulled, Paul spoke with THR about how she’s been navigating the attention and headlines. “It’s been really difficult and heavy, given, you know, all the headlines and what’s going on,” Paul said. “I am handling it like any normal human would, like struggling but trying to show up at the same time.”
There’s been no further update on how ABC decides to do regarding the pulled season, but in a statement shared last week, a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson shared that they “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.”
Shelving the season could cost the network $30 million or more.
Read here to find out what Paul told THR about her season’s ending and rumors about her final pick and find out here what men were cast on her season that may not make it to TV.
