Weeks ago — before Taylor Frankie Paul became a national headline — The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast raised concerns about continuing their hit Hulu reality series while the #MomTok founder was involved in an ongoing investigation.
On March 7, Paul’s Mormon Wives co-stars had a 30-minute Zoom call with three Disney executives including Rob Mills, executive vp unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television. They voiced their concerns about the future of their show amid a new alleged domestic incident that took place in February between Paul and her on-again, off-again partner Dakota Mortensen, whom with Paul shares one of her three children.
NBC News obtained audio of the call and reported on the meeting on Friday, one day after ABC scrapped Paul’s already-filmed season of The Bachelorette, which had been set to premiere Sunday night. The network’s swift decision followed TMZ posting a leaked video of a past February 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul and Mortensen, and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives pausing filming on its forthcoming fifth season after it was reported that Utah’s Draper City Police Department had an open “domestic assault investigation” between Paul and Mortensen over the February incident. Authorities said “allegations have been made in both directions” and that contact was made with both parties on Feb. 24 and 25.
During the Mormon Wives cast call, per the audio reported by NBC, one unnamed cast member said they did not feel comfortable filming while Paul was being investigated. “It’s a dangerous situation, it’s a sad situation and we don’t know how to navigate it, because Taylor is our friend,” the cast member reportedly said during the virtual meeting.
THR understands that the call was held so the executives could inform the cast that the show was going on pause amid their own investigation. They shared on the call, per a source close to the situation, that the production company on Mormon Wives, Jeff Jenkins Productions in association with 3BMG and Walt Disney Television Alternative, had hired a seasoned, third-party law firm to conduct an investigation into the “competing and conflicting allegations” being made by Paul and Mortensen.
The cast was told that filming on season five will remain on pause until production’s investigation, which is separate from the law enforcement investigation, concludes, which is expected to be by the end of next week, per the source.
NBC reported that the executives told the cast that the purpose of the meeting was so they could express that they “care about their safety, and they should not feel pressured to do press or film the show.”
“Everyone is focused on making sure the family is ok,” the source tells THR.
NBC reported that as the cast shared accounts of Paul’s alleged behavior, including “distressing” and “upsetting” video recordings of Paul’s alleged conduct, Mills said on the call, “I don’t know a lot, nor do I want to know too much. … This is not me putting my head in the sand, but it’s not me — you know, I don’t want to inquire, because I don’t know what that does.”
A cast member called it “concerning” that no one at Disney or Hulu seemed to want to know the content of the mentioned videos, per NBC.
A source close to the situation tells THR that Mills did not want to compromise the integrity of the investigation, so he deflected any allegations raised by castmembers.
NBC News had previously reported that when Hulu executives visited Utah to see Mormon Wives filming season five, they “witnessed” discussions of domestic violence.
Hulu and ABC have not not commented on Paul’s involvement in Mormon Wives season amid the investigation. The show remains on pause heading into the weekend.
The season five cast was expected to include Paul and Mortensen, along with Jessi Draper, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Jen Affleck, Layla Taylor, Miranda Hope and Whitney Leavitt.
The fallout from Paul’s 2023 domestic violence incident, which led to her arrest, was a major storyline on season one of Mormon Wives. Paul pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Part of the plea agreement included two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child — also a third-degree felony — as well as a class-A misdemeanor charge of child abuse and a class-B misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief were dismissed.
In the disturbing video of the incident that was leaked this week, Paul is seen hitting Mortensen and throwing kitchen bar stools at him. One stool appears to hit her daughter, who can be heard crying and screaming “Mommy!” Mortensen says in the cell phone video that the daughter was hit in the head with the stool.
Following her 2023 plea, Paul was ordered to attend counseling and undergo substance abuse and domestic violence evaluations.
All of this was known when she was cast on The Bachelorette, but the distressing footage released to the public is said to be the final nail in the coffin for her Bachelorette cancellation. Paul’s Bachelorette season also wrapped production in December, two months before the latest domestic incident.
ABC will fill The Bachelorette‘s time slot, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., this Sunday with an encore of American Idol. It is not currently clear if that will be continue throughout the season, with ABC taking a major hit on sunk production costs and lost media value, not to mention that Paul’s season was intended to be a needed boost for the female-led spinoff to The Bachelor, which has taken a hit in ratings in recent years and followed a first-ever hiatus in 2025.
Mormon Wives, meanwhile, has been an instant hit for Hulu. Season one was the most-watched unscripted premiere for the streamer in 2024, surpassing the likes of The Kardashians. Season two earned five million global viewers in its first five days across Disney+ and Hulu. And then they earned their first Emmy nomination.
Paul spoke out via a statement from her rep shortly after ABC pulled her season of The Bachelorette, saying she was “grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security” and that she is “currently exploring all of her options, seeking support and preparing to own and share her story.”
The rep added, “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.”
Tony Maglio and McKinley Franklin contributed to this report.
