Taylor Frankie Paul is speaking out over the effect recent headlines about her are having on her 8-year-old daughter, Indy.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 31, said that leaked footage of her 2023 domestic violence incident involving ex Dakota Mortensen has been difficult for her little one to navigate. (Taylor shares Indy and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul, and son Ever, 2, with Dakota.)
“Worst part is my daughter having to relive and see it all over again years later after extensive work with her and apologies to her about that night 💔,” Taylor commented on a TikTok video shared on Friday, March 20.
“And my baby boy birthday was taken from him,” she added, referring to TMZ publishing footage of the incident on Thursday, March 19, which was Ever’s 2nd birthday.
ABC canceled Taylor’s season 22 of The Bachelorette on Thursday after footage emerged of the MomTok influencer appearing to throw barstools at Dakota during a domestic dispute in February 2023. One of Taylor’s children — reportedly Indy — can be heard crying in the background.
Taylor was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse and criminal mischief. She later pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in exchange for the other charges being dropped.
The incident was documented on the first season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which premiered in September 2024 on Hulu, but resurfaced last week amid news of a fresh domestic dispute between Taylor and Dakota.
The Draper City Police Department in Utah confirmed to Us Weekly that it had opened a “domestic assault investigation” into an alleged incident involving the exes in February. The police department said that accusations were made by both Taylor and Dakota.
Production on season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been paused amid the police investigation.
“It’s sad to see the latest installment of his never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child,” Taylor’s rep said in a statement after TMZ published footage of the 2023 incident. “Releasing an old and selectively edited video on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior.”
In his own statement, Dakota told Us: “As anyone who has seen the video will understand, this is a deeply upsetting situation. I am, unfortunately, used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny. I am focusing on our son and his safety, and hope that Taylor will do the same.”
Amid the ongoing domestic violence investigation, Dakota was granted temporary custody of the former couple’s son, Ever, on Friday, per court documents viewed by Us. He was also granted a temporary protective order against Taylor.
