STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A third police investigation now looks into alleged domestic violence involving the woman who was supposed to star in the latest season of "The Bachelorette." Police in West Jordan, Utah, confirmed to NPR they are investigating a 2024 incident involving Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. Earlier, as many people know, video of Paul throwing bar stools at Mortensen prompted ABC to decide not to air new episodes. Now, Paul was on reality TV previously on Hulu's "Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives," which also featured an encounter with police.
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BEN RUGEBREGT: Taylor, I'm Officer Rugebregt with the Herriman Police Department.
TAYLOR FRANKIE PAUL: OK.
RUGEBREGT: The neighbors called in, saying they heard a bunch of yelling.
PAUL: I'm sorry.
INSKEEP: That leads to a question we're going to put to Eric Deggans, NPR's critic-at-large. Eric, good morning.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: Got to be honest, from what we heard there, ABC could not have been surprised by Taylor Frankie Paul. So why did they take the risk?
DEGGANS: Well, you know, Taylor Frankie Paul brought a fan base that she developed on social media, and on that show, "The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives." And, you know, casting her was something new for "The Bachelorette" 'cause they usually feature somebody who's appeared in the franchise before, but the show seemed to really need some shaking up. I mean, the last season featured a star, Jenn Tran, who got dumped by the man that she picked. And "Mormon Wives" is on a sibling platform. Hulu, like ABC, is owned by Disney.
So it might have seemed like a smart move to take somebody over from a new, more buzzed-about show and put them on "The Bachelorette." Unfortunately, "The Bachelorette" producers discovered the hard way that centering a show on somebody you haven't featured before with a turbulent personal life can seriously backfire. Now, I reached out to Paul's management for comment, and they sent us a copy of the statement that they released on March 19, which said in part, quote, "Taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse, retaliation and public shaming."
INSKEEP: Do reality shows rely a little bit too much on people with personal scandals like this?
DEGGANS: I think so. I mean, this isn't a recent development, right? I mean, series like "Vanderpump Rules" or "Real Housewives," they often center cast on people who got a lot of drama going on in their lives. But next to shows like that, a program like "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette," which tries to focus on romance, can feel a little old-fashioned. Still, "The Bachelorette" is part of this network TV franchise that feeds stars to other shows like "Bachelor In Paradise." So you're risking a lot when you take somebody from a show where messy personal drama is part of the formula, and you try to install them on a franchise that just isn't known for that kind of material.
INSKEEP: Oh, that's interesting - get a little insight here as to how this happened and why it went wrong. But you wonder if ABC will just eventually air these episodes after some delay.
DEGGANS: I got to say, it's tough to imagine ABC airing these new episodes until there's some sense of what the police investigations are going to reveal...
INSKEEP: Ah.
DEGGANS: ...Even though scrapping that season could cost ABC millions. You know, I've always felt that these so-called reality TV shows were often damaging and unethical anyway. I mean, producers rarely tell you what they're doing to create all this drama that they're filming.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
DEGGANS: And too many of these shows seem to exploit people with these fractious personal lives. Now, I've documented for NPR how "The Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" have struggled with racial issues when they crop up. Now we've gotten a real glimpse of how difficult domestic violence allegations can be. I just hope that this makes the producers think a little more carefully about who they cast, especially when they're considering spotlighting somebody who may have struggled with some serious personal issues in the past.
INSKEEP: You know, NPR is working on a new reality TV show.
DEGGANS: What's that?
INSKEEP: "Secret Lives Of Critics-At-Large." Are you ready?
DEGGANS: It would be super boring.
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: All right. OK. Eric, good to talk with you.
DEGGANS: Thank you.
INSKEEP: That's NPR's critic-at-large, Eric Deggans.
(SOUNDBITE OF GRAMATIK'S "CHILLAXIN' BY THE SEA") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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