American Idol fans turned off the lights a bit earlier this week.
After ABC announced that Taylor Frankie Paul‘s season of The Bachelorette would no longer debut on March 22, the network substituted the dating series with a re-run of the competition show.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star’s quest to find love was ultimately postponed on March 19 after a 2023 video of a physical altercation between her and then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen emerged. Shortly thereafter, a spokesperson for Disney Entertainment, the parent company of ABC and Hulu, provided insight into the company’s decision.
“In light of the newly released video that just surfaced today,” the spokesperson stated in a message to E! News, “we have decided not to proceed with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family.”
Regarding Taylor—who has a son with Dakota and two other children with ex Tate Paul—her representative addressed the footage in a statement to E! News, claiming that the video was part of “a destructive campaign to harm Taylor” and labeled the release as “a reprehensible attempt to distract from” Dakota’s actions.
