Taylor Frankie Paul Accuses Dakota of Threats and Public Humiliation

Reality TV mess meets real-life fallout: Taylor Frankie Paul just unloaded about her relationship with ex Dakota Mortensen in a long, raw Instagram post, right as their custody fight drags on and her season of The Bachelorette got shelved. It is a lot, and she is not soft-pedaling any of it.

What Taylor says now

Posting Thursday, May 14, the 31-year-old Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star said she hates that she stayed as long as she did and flat-out acknowledged she is not blameless, noting she already told the court she is not innocent. She described years of what she calls survival mode tied to miscarriages, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and what she characterizes as major betrayal and lies that piled on physically, hormonally, mentally, and emotionally.

Taylor says she often felt too scared to ask for help because she is already on probation, and claimed that power imbalance kept her quiet, especially while pregnant and postpartum. She describes a dynamic where she doubted her own sanity, calls it gaslighting and projection, and says even after recognizing the pattern, she still wanted comfort from the same person. Her words, not mine: twisted.

Addressing the inevitable why didn’t you leave sooner, Taylor alleges that when she did finally draw a line, the 33-year-old Mortensen love bombed, manipulated, threatened, and physically hurt her. She says cops were called on her, she was humiliated publicly, she lost most friends because he got to them first, Child Protective Services got involved, and now they are in court because she said no more and meant it. She insists her love for him was real and without an angle, says both of them have done wrong, and adds that she did not want to ruin his life, call the cops on him, take his child away, or pretend she was completely innocent. She says she cried the entire way home after a recent hearing.

She also took a swing at costar Mikayla Matthews, who has distanced herself lately. According to Taylor, Mikayla now wants an apology. Taylor’s response: not happening, and Mikayla can kick rocks. In the caption, Taylor said she is sharing now because she needed to process the last couple of months.

Where the TV and legal stuff stands

• March: ABC shelved the planned season of The Bachelorette that would have starred Taylor after footage surfaced of a 2023 domestic violence incident between her and Dakota.
• 2023: Taylor pled guilty to third-degree felony aggravated assault as part of a plea deal and remains on probation.
• Spring: Two Utah police departments investigated two additional alleged domestic disputes involving Taylor and Dakota; prosecutors ultimately declined to press charges against either of them.
• That law-enforcement activity also led production to pause Mormon Wives season 5.
• Late April: Taylor and Dakota were both granted protective orders requiring them to stay at least 100 feet from each other.
• Custody: Their 2-year-old son, Ever, is in Dakota’s temporary custody. Taylor is allowed up to 12 hours of supervised visitation. Another hearing is set for June 1.
• Taylor also shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul.

What Dakota says

"I regret not stepping away from the difficult cycle sooner. I’m not perfect, and I take accountability for my part. I’m sincerely sorry to those I’ve hurt. At the same time, I don’t agree with how this situation has been portrayed publicly. It does not reflect the full context of what occurred or the impact it has had on me and my son."

(That statement is from April.)

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