Celebrities like Taylor Frankie Paul are seeing that you can’t outrun a video
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — As a culture, we are nosy.
That’s why tabloid culture — both in its grocery store checkout aisle and online forms —thrives, especially when it involves celebrities behaving badly.
But it’s one thing to read about an incident and another to see it.
An incident with Justin Timberlake already became a meme after the pop star reportedly talked about his “world tour” after being arrested for driving while intoxicated back in June 2024. The release late Friday of bodycam footage from the Sag Harbor Police Department of the arrest, and attendant failed sobriety test, took that to a whole new level, launching a new cycle of scrutiny of the star and the whims of celebrity.
But the person to most recently learn the full power of video is Taylor Frankie Paul, the reality star who had been poised to headline the new season of “The Bachelorette” until video of a well-known incident made its way to the ether. She became the latest to learn a lesson now known by everyone from music moguls to sports stars: Explaining away a controversy becomes the steepest of uphill battles once the public sees something with their own eyes.
A not-so-secret life of a Mormon wife
Paul was days away from celebrating her “Bachelorette” debut when TMZ published video of a violent 2023 incident involving her and former boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
The video, with shaky angles and bad lighting, shows Paul appearing to kick Mortensen and forcefully grab his head. At one point, she throws what appears to be a barstool at him and is also seen moving to strike him with another. At another, a child can be heard crying in the background.
A representative for Paul said in a statement that the video “conveniently omits context.”
For those who knew Paul’s name before it started trending the day of the video’s release, the incident, which led to her arrest, was likely well known because it had been a major storyline in the first season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” the other reality show in which she appears. Body cam footage was even included in the first episode.
Paul has also talked pretty openly about it over the years.
During an appearance to promote her show on “The Viall Files” podcast — hosted by “Bachelor” Season 21 star Nick Viall and his wife Natalie Joy — Paul explained that she believed the 2023 fight was the result of “a build up.”
She told the hosts how she had had an ectopic pregnancy followed by a chemical one. “Obviously I don’t want to blame hormones, but I will put that into account,” she said. “Like, I am pretty whack.”
Paul said she had been drinking that night, which angered Mortensen. She was so worked up, Paul said, that she didn’t even stop when she realized her daughter was present.
“I remember, like, throwing things and I don’t know my daughter’s on the couch,” Paul said during the podcast.
“I’m, like, so gone that I don’t care,” she said during her podcast appearance. “And I throw another chair.”
The previous year Paul had also taken to TikTok to discuss the incident.
As much as I wish that night had went differently, I felt like hitting rock bottom actually helped me in some ways,” she said at the time. “Made me seek help that I wasn’t getting at the time.”
She was a bit more reflective in 2025 during an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, telling host Alex Cooper, “I never really even think about me in that situation.”
“Obviously, it’s my kids because they were involved, they were in the house,” Paul said. “But in that moment that we see on screen, I see a lot of pain. And I didn’t have any tools at that time, so I was very lost.”
In its statement announcing the shelving of the new season, ABC cited “the newly released video” as reasoning for its decision. (CNN and Warner Bros. Television, which produces “The Bachelorette,” share a parent company.)
In the days that have followed, questions have arisen about how Paul was allowed to lead the series in the first place, given her tumultuous history. The network will, eventually, be faced with how to move forward with its once uber popular franchise and answer for the decision.
CNN has reached out to the network, Paul and Mortensen for comment.
What could be true is that whether you’re a network or internet dweller, there is a conversation shift for celebrities once an incident plays out in front of the eyes of the public.
The downfall of Diddy
When singer Cassie Ventura filed a civil suit against Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2023, it that detailed years of disturbing abuse allegations. Combs quickly settled the suit but the conversation online was dominated by conversation that disparaged and attempted to discredit Ventura.
Then, in May 2024, CNN published exclusive hotel surveillance footage that showed Combs viciously assaulting Ventura at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles in 2016, an incident that had been described in her lawsuit.
Combs quickly apologized via a video posted on social media, saying that his behavior on the video was “inexcusable.” He claimed to have sought professional help in the form of therapy and rehabilitation.
“I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day,” he said.
For her supporters, the footage was validation for Ventura, who had been painted by some Combs fans as a disgruntled ex. Ventura’s allegations ended up becoming the heart of a federal criminal case against Combs.
He pleaded not guilty to federal charges that included racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In July 2025, he was convicted on two lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution and sentenced to just over four years in prison, which he is currently serving.
An athlete caught on tape
In the case of former Baltimore Ravens football player Ray Rice, two surveillance videos were the undoing of his career.
The then-running back was caught on camera being involved in a February 2014 domestic violence incident in an Atlantic City hotel elevator with his then fiancée, Janay Palmer.
The initial video showed him dragging Palmer out of the elevator and resulted in Rice being suspended for two games.
In September 2014, TMZ published a video showing the 200-pound athlete punching Palmer, causing her head to be slammed into the wall of the elevator before she collapses unconscious to the floor.
The incident effectively ended his NFL career as the Ravens released him and the league further suspended him. In 2015 a New Jersey judge dismissed a felony assault charge against Rice citing his completion of a pretrial intervention program.
He and Palmer married in 2014, are still together and are now the parents of two children.
CNN has reached out to Rice for comment.
In 2018, “CBS This Morning’s” Gayle King asked Rice how he felt being “a poster boy for domestic violence caught in a very graphic way on tape.”
“Early on, you could feel, like, oh, why do they keep bringing my name up,” he said, expressing remorse for what he did and how he wants other athletes to learn from his mistakes. “You can make excuses or you can actually do the hard work.”
Is seeing always believing?
Video can have the feel of authenticity, giving viewers the belief that they’re seeing something illicit and true.
But that’s not always the case.
The advent of artificial intelligence has already prompted a flood of fake videos online — with everything from fake videos of the Iran war to deepfake videos of revenge porn.
Even when they’re not fake, videos can sometimes tell only part of the story.
As the world continues its pivot to video — real or fake — we’re all reminded to stay on guard.
The-CNN-Wire
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