‘The Bachelorette’ season shelved in unprecedented move: How we got here | CNN

Picking Taylor Frankie Paul to be the next star of “The Bachelorette” was always a spicy choice. The reality star’s tribulations in life and love, including a violent incident with a former boyfriend for which she faced charges, were central to the plot of the other reality show in which she appears, Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” For days before what was supposed to be the new season premiere of the fervently followed, long-running ABC series, there was a drip-drip of details about the incident that led to her 2023 arrest. Then, on Thursday, TMZ published a video. In the footage, Paul is seen physically fighting the former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. They share one child, born in 2024. At one point, Paul appears to kick Mortensen and forcefully grab his head. At another, she throws what appears to be a barstool at him and is also seen moving to strike him with another. Mortensen is heard yelling at Paul, “Your daughter is sitting right there!” After he walks toward a couch, a child can be heard crying. CNN has not independently verified the video’s authenticity. TMZ reported that the video was part of legal proceedings. ABC has just canceled its upco