The 22nd season of The Bachelorette was canceled late last week, just before its scheduled premiere on Sunday.
The season had been filmed and was ready for viewers, and the estimated cost was well over $30 million. This season’s bachelorette was Hulu’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul, and her actions from 2023 were the catalyst for the show’s cancellation.
TMZ got hold of a video of Paul that cost her this season on the show. The video appears to show a domestic dispute with Paul and her former boyfriend at the time, Dakota Mortensen, with Paul being aggressive toward Mortensen and eventually throwing a chair at him from across the room.
With this footage, ABC had no choice but to pull this season of The Bachelorette, as there is no way to defend Paul’s actions without major controversy.
No one will ever know the full story or the reason behind Paul’s actions or what their relationship must have been like. But no one cannot defend abuse of any kind on either side of a relationship.
The season’s rumored winner, Doug Mason, who is now Paul’s now ex-fiancé, has since released a statement defending Paul.
“I’m just sending our prayers to Taylor because that was her moment, and her moment was blocked. All we can do right now is just be hopeful,” Mason shared in an Instagram story shortly after the video was released.
Some people online are saying that Paul is being wrongly punished and that the season should not have been canceled.
The reality of the situation has yet to come to light and may never be fully understood, but what is known is that ABC was not willing to get pulled into a scandal like this and willingly lost over $30 million on this project.
Overall, it is still refreshing for many to see that no matter how famous the person is, if they are involved in a situation like this with any kind of domestic or physical violence, actions will be taken to prevent them from moving on without any repercussions. This is not always the case in modern society for people with money and fame.
As for ABC, there is no new statement about replacing Paul with a new lead in the show.
