Taylor Frankie Paul is well aware that fans want her to cut ties with Dakota Mortensen after their alleged domestic dispute last month.
“Taylor Frankie Paul, this is a message for you: Stop seeing that man,” influencer Max Balegde said in a loud, direct voice during a Tuesday, March 17, TikTok video addressed to Taylor, 31.
The TikToker’s voice continued to rise as he said, “Taylor, please listen to me when I tell you that you do not need this man. Quite frankly, you don’t need each other. You are terrible for each other.”
Balegde noted, “You have so much going for you, Taylor Frankie Paul. Your career is on a high.”
The video’s caption tagged Taylor and featured the headline: “PLS SEE THE LIGHT MY QUEEN YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS.”
Taylor, for her part, acknowledged the post, writing in the comments section, “Heard.”
Balegde’s plea for Taylor to put Dakota, 33, in her rearview mirror comes after news broke on Monday, March 16, that the on-again, off-again couple were allegedly involved in a domestic violence dispute in late February.
The alleged incident reportedly led to the halt of season 5 of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which both Taylor and Dakota star on. (It has also seeped into Taylor’s promotion of season 22 of The Bachelorette, which premieres on Sunday, March 22.)
A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department in Utah confirmed to Us Weekly at the time that there was an open “domestic assault investigation” concerning the on-again, off-again couple, with allegations “made in both directions.”
Taylor broke her silence over the scandal on Tuesday, exclusively telling Us, “There’s more to the context to everything and it’s unfortunate. It’s been hard. And it sucks to be in this position.”
Taylor, who shares son Ever, 2, with Dakota, denied that the alleged altercation was a reflection on her as a parent. (Taylor is also the mother of daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, whom she shares with ex-husband Tate Paul.)
“And the mother that I am, that is something I will always stand my ground on. I believe that I am a good mother and I have always treated my kids very well,” Taylor told Us. “So the headlines that are out right now are very hard to see because that’s not the truth of it. I have always treated my children with respect and I’ve never touched them. So it’s been really hard.”
Dakota addressed the drama on Wednesday, March 18, saying in a statement that his “No. 1 priority here is protecting Ever.”
A rep for Dakota told Entertainment Weekly at the time, “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. It’s been really hard to achieve that, but he wants to coparent well.”
The statement continued, “He was just hoping that if he says nothing, as he usually does, it would go away. He’s never done any kind of sit-down interview about his side. He kind of just lets it all happen to him, and I think he realizes with the severity of everything now that he just can’t do that.”
The following day, Taylor and Dakota’s rocky relationship was once again thrust into the spotlight when TMZ released a cellphone video allegedly taken in 2023 of Taylor and Dakota getting into a fight. In the video, Taylor throws a chair at Dakota.
Following the 2023 incident, Taylor was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse with injury and criminal mischief. She pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault charges while the rest were dismissed.
A spokesperson for Taylor released a statement about the leaked video, claiming, “Releasing an old and selectively edited video on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from [Dakota’s] own behavior.”
The rep told TMZ, “It’s sad to see the latest installment of his never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child.”
Us Weekly has reached out for comment.
