In a move that began to feel inevitable in recent days, ABC has canceled Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette.
The decision follows the release of shocking footage that shows Paul assaulting then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
At one point in the video, Paul threw several chairs at Mortensen, one of which allegedly struck her 5-year-old daughter.
“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 said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon (per NBC News).
Many fans of The Bachelorette and its related series are breathing a sigh of relief today, as the consensus among viewers was that Paul’s season would’ve permanently degraded one of the longest-running franchises in reality TV history.
Paul’s other series, the Hulu reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, has already suspended production in response to recent developments.
Taylor has not yet issued a statement on what may well be the end of her career as a reality star and influencer.
Asked about the scandal during an appearance on Wednesday’s Good Morning America, Paul declined to go into specifics but admitted that it had “been a heavy time to see the headlines.”
“But I will say, I’ve been here before, and I got through it, and, you know, shared my story, my light. So I’m hoping that I can do that again,” she added.
From the beginning, Mortensen has maintained that ABC was aware of the allegations against Paul, and they made the decision to cast her as Bachelorette in spite of the risks.
He also denied Taylor’s allegation that he was the one who made the allegations public.
“His number one priority here is protecting [their 2-year-old son], Ever,” a rep for Mortensen tells Entertainment Weekly, adding:
“He knew there was a possibility it could come out, but he was not going to be the one to proactively do that because he has always wanted a decent relationship with Taylor.
“It’s been really hard to achieve that, but he wants to co-parent well. He was just hoping that if he says nothing, as he usually does, it would go away. He’s never done any kind of sit-down interview about his side,” the spokesperson continued.
Paul’s casting was controversial from the very beginning, but very few of her critics would have predicted that her season would never even make it to air.
Only time will tell what sort of effect this move will have on the future of this franchise.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.