Pulled Off Air: The Bachelorette crisis

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1:14Hello and welcome back to Fame Under Fire from BBC Sounds with me, Anushka Matandadoughty. And I'm joined, of course, by a resident trial attorney, Sean Kent, who's brought his child with him.

1:23Anoushka:Hiya, Anushka. That's a ridiculous dog. You leave him alone. He's trying. Are you going to bring him over when you come in July? Sean's coming to the UK in July. No, I'm keeping my dogs away from you in July. Yeah, because I'm going to shave your dogs. That's what I'm going to do. What's that one called? Is that Clark Kent? This is Sparty Kent. Clark Kent is in it. You want to see Clark? I'm your part. And that's Clark Kent. They ain't the most masculine looking dogs I've ever seen in my life. But hey, we love a man who steps in his feminine energy. I've missed you. I was getting Sean withdrawals every time I don't do an episode with you.

1:57And I've got something that I think I really want to get your take on this week. It's been going viral on social media. It's quite a confusing story and it's got some legal points in it that we haven't been through before. Just to let everybody listening know, some of the topics in this episode might be a bit distressing and we will probably have some strong language. Now, Sean, I don't know if you heard, but three days before its premiere, ABC pulled an entire season of The Bachelorette. Wish me luck. I can see him. It's Jessie. Taylor. Yeah. Let the journey begin. I love it. I don't think there were any dolls like that when I was a kid.

2:36I like cowboys, yeah. Hug makes the nerves go. And for the uninitiated, The Bachelorette is a reality TV dating show in which one woman dates a group of men, eliminating them over time. The idea being that there's one man left who is the potential husband for that woman. The parent show of that is called The Bachelor, so same thing, but gender switched. So The Bachelorette was on season 22. the cast had already been picked, it'd been edited, it'd been scheduled, this was the finished package, and then the network has pulled it from being released just three days before. But the reason ABC, whose parent company is actually Disney, pulled the show so close to broadcast is that a video surfaced and went viral.

3:13I just want to give another warning because this does contain an instance of violence. Hon, you think this is okay?

3:19Anoushka:It's not okay. I don't give a fuck, it's okay. Holy s***. I don't give a fuck, it's okay. I don't give a fuck. Let me go. Stop. Dude, leave me alone. Oh my gosh. Your daughter is right here. Oh my gosh. So the video shows influencer Taylor Frankie Paul in a domestic incident from 2023 involving her now ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. The video includes footage of Taylor throwing a chair with her child present. Taylor said she was under the influence of alcohol at the time. The video was filmed by her then boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, but we don't know who leaked the video. It was then released by the entertainment website TMZ.

4:07And Taylor, she is the lead star of The Bachelorette that season that's been pulled. She was the one looking for a husband. We don't know if she found a suitable candidate. And now we may never know if she found a suitable candidate. But the thing is, Sean, the video isn't new. The domestic violence incident had already been through the courts. So what changed when the full video emerged and was then widely circulated? And legally, what on earth does a network do when it's cast people, done advertising deals, product placement deals, and then has to pull the whole series just three days before?

4:42So after that video, Taylor Frankie Paul was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors. Aggravated assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child. according to court documents released by the district attorney for Salt Lake County. Sean, I've always had this question. Aggravated assault and assault. I'm going to sound so stupid. Who's aggravated?

5:04Anoushka:Is that what that means? No, it is not. And the best way is I talked about this once before. So an assault, you know, we always hear the phrase assault and battery. OK, and people use those interchangeably and they should not be used interchangeably. And assault is, have you seen that viral trend that's going on in which the young lady is going down the road and she goes, ah, and screams. And then all the boys turn and look and she's been like, why is so obsessed with me? And she starts pausing if you haven't seen it. But what she does is she screams at a group of guys and the group of guys look at her and then she takes a picture like they're obsessed with her.

5:43Anoushka:Well, that screaming is an assault. Once you connect with somebody, once you hit them in the face, once you touch them, that assault then becomes a battery. And so an assault is not necessarily touching somebody. The successful completion is a battery. Now, what makes it aggravated is the level of assault that we're talking about. Now, the young lady we just talked about is just screaming at guys and they turn to look. Well, that's just screaming at somebody. Let's say I take a gun, Anushka, and I fire at you. I never touch you. that's a pretty aggravated assault. Let's say I take a chair, as you just mentioned, and throw it at you.

6:21Anoushka:That's a pretty aggravated assault. It's the level of what could have happened based upon the assault, how scary the situation could have been. And so that's what makes it aggravated is the level of, I want to say intent sometimes or what the person intends on doing that makes it a little bit scarier. Are there levels to the aggravation? I don't think that's how you phrase it. But say if you fired a gun or you threw a chair, those are two separate things, right? So is there a way to... Absolutely. What's it called? Well, those are just levels of the aggravation. And that's just what it is. It just turns into a felony aggravated assault as opposed to a misdemeanor aggravated assault.

6:59Anoushka:And remember, we always focus on the battery. And I want to make sure... Here's the best way to describe a battery. Every unlawful touching is a battery. It doesn't matter the level of it. So let's say you're walking through the mall or walking down the street and somebody brushes up to you by accident. You're like, hey, what's that? Well, that's a battery. You understand? If somebody touches you or if a coworker just touches you on your shoulder, it may see sensitive. That's a battery. A battery is just defined as an unwanted touching. So someone touches you, you don't want them to touch. That's a simple battery.

7:34Anoushka:And the level of that battery that goes higher makes it a higher crime and the same thing with an assault. and so that's what makes them higher levels of what ends up happening. So she was charged with three misdemeanors. We've got one there. I don't want to lessen anything, but criminal mischief does sound a little bit like a term from yesteryear, like something Robin Hood would be doing. What does that actually mean? You're so right on that. You know, a lot of times they're on the statute book and I love the fact that you said it came up from yesteryear because a lot of our laws are written from a long damn time ago.

8:08Anoushka:We still have a dueling statute on the books where you can't fire guns towards each other. Criminal mischief is the same thing you just described. It comes from yesteryear where they're just like, you know what? Don't necessarily know what this is, but we're going to call it criminal mischief. You're acting bad. You're acting bad in public. You're doing something we don't like. I hate to say it, but your description was positively accurate. That's the same way we look at it. Maybe I understood it. You just don't know where to put it and you just throw it into the criminal mischief category. We don't know what it is, but something you've done is wrong.

8:38Now, in regards to those charges, Taylor pled guilty to a third degree felony count of aggravated assault in abeyance, whilst four other charges were dismissed with prejudice. That's legalese, honey. Can you translate? What even is abeyance?

8:54Anoushka:Abeyance. And it's called something different in almost every jurisdiction. What abeyance means is the following. Usually, usually, usually. You don't have a criminal record. You have done this. You are apologetic. You're a good person. Maybe you were drunk. Maybe you were stupid, but there's a rationale for doing it. So what we're going to do is you are going to plea guilty. The judge is going to say, ma 'am, you are guilty of this charge, but we believe that you are the type of person who can be salvaged. We are going to put you on probation. We are going to make you do some stuff. We're going to make you get some mental health counseling.

9:27Anoushka:We're going to do some things, and we're going to give you a certain period of time. Maybe it's a year. Maybe it's two years. It's usually a year, but maybe it's a year. Maybe it's two years. maybe it's three years. And once you have completed that term, we're going to either take it off your record completely. So we're holding the conviction in abeyance until you do everything we've told you to do. Now, if you don't do what we told you to do, then the conviction will stand on your record the way it has. And you've already pled guilty to it. So you can't go backwards. So holding something in abeyance means just that we're just waiting to show the world that you are salvageable, that you regret this, and we don't want you to have a potential felony on your record, because as you mentioned, it is a felony aggravated assault that eliminates her right to vote, her right to own firearms.

10:11Anoushka:Yes, Anushka, we do all have a right to have firearms here, Yosemite Sam. But this would cause you not to have a right to have a firearm in the United States, not be able to vote in our elections. And so it's a big deal to get your charge handled in abeyance. And look, Taylor has spoken about her perspective of the incident that took place. And she spoke on a podcast in 2024 called The Vile Files. And she said, quote, it was a buildup. So not just that night. I had an ectopic pregnancy a few months prior and I had a chemical pregnancy. She says, I obviously don't want to blame hormones, but that was pretty whack.

10:44I think hormones are whack and crazy. I'm angry. I'm very angry. That's the one emotion I was feeling. Then I ended up drinking that night again, feeling very lost. So she did tell her side of the story back then in September 2024. So she's telling her perspective that it was a build-up. I'm assuming all of that then plays into the reception in deciding whether it goes in abeyance or she just gets charged right then and there. It was held in abeyance for three years, which allowed her to undertake recommending courses, Prime for Life class to get some information or education about alcohol and its side effects and consequences.

11:17So that's literally what you just said, Sean. And a parenting class. I'm smart. Yeah, well, you know. I know stuff. Okay. I know stuff. Don't make me say it. And they also made her take a parenting class to learn to manage stress and anxiety around her children. I just want to ask, the allegation is that the child was present during the throwing of the chair. There's the allegation of domestic violence. Is that then worsened in the eyes of the law if a child is present?

11:44Anoushka:Absolutely. We have something that we almost always call the best interest of the child test. And we always worried about parenting around children. So we really try to make sure that if our crimes, if children are involved, they become heightened and more aggravated. And they're basically saying, you know, this is the crime you saw. What is also possibly happened on the crimes you don't see? If a person is willing to do this in front of a child and it's on the camera, what are we not watching when it's not there? So the fact that a child is involved in the eyes of the court because, you know, a child is vulnerable, a pet is vulnerable, an elderly person is vulnerable.

12:18Anoushka:So courts go out of the way to protect in those situations. And since a child was there when she's throwing the tire and could have been hurt, that aggravates or heightens the crime that she's potentially looking at. So we have an explanation from Taylor on her side of events in that incident that took place in 2023. Then in February last month, the police in Utah confirmed that the domestic abuse incident was still, quote, open and active. They can't release any details of it, but they did confirm allegations have been made on both sides. So we had it held in abeyance for three years, but it's still going on.

12:52Should we glean from that that there's been another incident?

12:56Anoushka:Yes. Yes, you should. There are new allegations being brought forth from the mail who is saying that there's been a new incident of domestic violence. And if that is what has happened during the three years, you know, we talk about held in abeyance, you're basically on probation, Anushka, and you cannot get in trouble during that three years. And so if he is saying something during that three years, she has done this again. She has done, and I'm not saying she has, but this is his allegation. She has done this again. So judge, you need to look back at this. This would be a violation of the three-year abayance process she's being on, and this is a problem.

13:32Anoushka:And when you look at it a little further, when you plead guilty, and I understand she has given her statement, and that's why I kind of give it a look, because I tell people that. When you plead guilty, the judge asks you certain questions. Your name is blank. How old are you? Do you understand you are pleading guilty? By pleading guilty, you are given up certain rights. Amongst those is a right to a jury trial. You are acknowledging the facts as they have stated. You are acknowledging that you have done wrong. No one has promised you, threatened you, or forced you in any way to plead guilty. Those are all the things the judge asks you and has put on the record.

14:06Anoushka:Maybe someone told her just to do that to get through a plea, but those are now the facts of the case in Usha, that she has acknowledged what she did was wrong. And so now to come back and say, well, I've had all these issues. That's why when you ask me, should we glean any pain from it? She's already pled guilty, period. And to go back and re-litigate it would make it hard on her. Like you said there, Sean, if something happens whilst being held in abeyance, like with probation, the case continues. It doesn't close out after that three years. And we have, in a protective order obtained by TMZ from Dakota Mortensen.

14:39There is an allegation that there's been another incident. He shared that he argued with Taylor in their home with their two-year-old son. The two had an argument which escalated and he alleges that Taylor choked him and he had to physically remove her hands from his neck while she shoved him into a window and struck him. He called the situation frightening and chaotic. He goes on to say more and describes why he felt he had to remove the child. This is, of course, just one side of events. Those are his side of that new allegation, that fresh allegation of domestic violence. In March, Dakota Mortensen files for a temporary restraining order on Taylor-Frankie Paul and gains temporary custody of their two-year-old son.

15:15Should we glean from the gaining of the temporary custody that he has some sort of sufficient evidence to back up what he said there?

15:22Anoushka:Yes. I mean, remember we talked about, and this question didn't know was coming, but we talked about what's in the best interest of the child. And that's what courts tend to consider. What is in the best interest of the two-year-old child. And you look at the mother versus the father, some court somewhere looked at this and made a decision that it is in the best interest of the child based upon the evidence that we have been presented to put custody with father over mother. So something was presented that we should glean from it, that the court decided in this situation, there's some merit to what he is saying.

15:55And look, we did ask Taylor Frankie Paul for a response. We didn't get one, But a spokesperson for Taylor did release a statement after the video went viral saying Taylor is very grateful for ABC support. She prioritizes her family's safety and security. After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse, as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm. She goes on to talk about the fact that there are many other women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives.

16:28So she previously took accountability for the assault in 2023 and alcohol abuse. This statement casts Dakota Mortensen as the aggressor in the relationship. Taylor has spoken about all this in interviews and she's released multiple statements. In one, she says, quote, I'm a person that will always speak my truth. That's what I'm known for. So when the time is right, I will be. And Dakota has spoken out after the release of the video and the cancellation of The Bachelorette to places like Entertainment Weekly and People.

17:25He said, what her rep is asserting in that statement.

17:28Anoushka:Absolutely. And that is a literal viable defense. It is true. There are women who suffer for decades in abusive relationships. We have battered wife syndrome, which is a recognized defense that we have therapists and psychiatrists who will testify that this woman has engaged and dealt with years of abuse. And that's why she reacted the way she did. People looking back from the lens of today, looking back and saying people can suffer for years of abuse, and they may not be abused at an exact time, but they're likely to snap. I agree with all of that. The problem is, as mentioned earlier, that would have been a perfect defense before she chose to enter into the guilty plea, because the second she has entered into a guilty plea, the judge asks all of those questions.

18:13Anoushka:And is anyone promising you? Is anyone forcing you? Are you being threatened to plead guilty? Are you pleading guilty under your own free will and volition. Has your lawyer, and they even go through this and this, has your lawyer gone over legal defenses that you possibly could have on this case that you would want to assert? They ask them all of these questions. But surely, so then the next logical step to that is I was in a coercive relationship at the time. So I would have pled that way because I was in the midst of an abusive relationship, no? Oh, 100%. But is it going to work? No, because you have pled guilty.

18:43Anoushka:The second you plea, it stops. You know, there's a difference when you're like, I went to trial, I was fighting this, whatever. You made a conscious choice to stand in front of God, country, the court and say, I am guilty for this and I'll take whatever the court wants to do for me. Once you have done that, it's hard to have a revisionist history later. And we've represented a lot of people as like, I wish I wouldn't have played guilty. And now it's hard to change the narrative. But this is playing out on a global stage because she was going on to this reality TV show where she was going to be the bachelorette to find a new man, potentially a husband.

19:15And There's the sides of it legally that we've just unpacked to do with their specific situation. But there's also a business element to this. You know, Disney have invested a lot of money in that series and made deals with advertisers, made deals with the contestants. This could cost them millions of dollars.

19:33Anoushka:And usually if you know these situations, they do such a vetting process of getting people on these television shows. We've had a couple of people who have sent us contracts to look at. And when you would look at, Anushka, the contract, the background check, who you are, have you ever been accused of a crime? Have you ever had a crime expunged? Because they don't want this situation to happen that could cost them millions. So I'm very curious about the vetting process that would have happened before they put this young lady on the show. Now, of course, we did ask Disney for a comment and they haven't replied.