Taylor Frankie Paul is absorbing all the commentary that's been directed her way. After the star of 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute with her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, in February, she reacted to fans urging her to stay away from him. In a March 17 TikTok video, influencer Max Balegde expressed, "Taylor Frankie Paul, this is a message for you: Stop seeing that man. Taylor, please listen to me when I tell you that you don't need this man. Quite frankly, you don't need each other. You are terrible for each other."
Meanwhile, Taylor—who is making her debut as the leading lady on season 22 of 'The Bachelorette'—seems to be taking the comments to heart. She simply replied, "Heard." Ahead of the dating show's March 22 premiere, the Draper City Police Department in Utah confirmed to People that there was a "domestic assault investigation" regarding the incident, in which "allegations have been made in both directions."
The alleged incident also led to production halting on season five of 'SLOMW,' a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to E! News. Taylor's costar Mikayla Matthews later shared insight into the move on her Instagram Stories, writing, "It was a decision that all us girls came up with and agreed on. We didn't feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening."
As for Taylor—who shares 23-month-old son Ever with Dakota—she broke her silence on the alleged dispute in the run-up to 'The Bachelorette's debut. "My heart hurts to see it, to go through it, especially at this time," she told People in an interview published on March 17. "Just the timing is hard, and it's a big deal. I feel like every premiere that I've experienced, I've never enjoyed fully, so this is another one... It's extremely hard, and it took everything to get me here today."
"It's a heavy time, and it's unfortunate," the 31-year-old—also mom to kids Indy, 8, and Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul—continued. "I'm struggling for sure, but at the same time, I feel like if I don't show up, then I'm just giving these opportunities away and not enjoying what we've worked on and something super exciting that's coming."
Meanwhile, Dakota's rep addressed the allegations, emphasizing the reality star's commitment to parenting their toddler. "His number one priority here is protecting [their 2-year-old son], Ever," his spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly in a statement on March 18, adding of the alleged incident, "he knew there was a possibility it could come out, but he was not going to be the one to proactively do that because he has always wanted a decent relationship with Taylor."
