ABC has abruptly cancelled the upcoming season of The Bachelorette starring reality personality Taylor Frankie Paul just three days before its planned premiere, after a 2023 video surfaced showing her allegedly assaulting her former partner while her young daughter looked on in distress.
The scrapped 22nd season had already been filmed, making the late cancellation an unprecedented move for the long-running reality franchise. ABC’s parent company, Disney, said the decision followed the emergence of the video, though it also coincides with an ongoing domestic violence investigation involving Paul and Dakota Mortensen, the father of her youngest child.
In a statement, Disney Entertainment Television said the network would not move forward with the season at this time and would instead focus on supporting the family. Paul’s representative said she had suffered years of mental and physical abuse but had remained silent out of fear.
The footage, released by TMZ, appears to show Mortensen trying to shield himself while recording as Paul punches, kicks and throws chairs at him, while a child cries and calls out for her mother. The incident matches details of Paul’s 2023 arrest. She later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, with other counts dismissed.