A Utah judge granted Taylor Frankie Paul supervised visits with her two-year-old son after hearing arguments Tuesday on a protective order sought by ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
Paul and Mortensen, who have had an on-and-off relationship following her split with ex-husband Tate Paul in 2022, participated in the hearing remotely while their lawyers appeared in person at the Salt Lake City courthouse. Details of the temporary protective order have been kept sealed.
She had temporarily lost custody of their son Ever when temporary custody was awarded to Mortensen last month. Third district court commissioner Russell Minas decided on supervised visitation after Paul’s legal team shared concern over Mortensen’s alleged lack of credibility, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Paul was granted up to eight hours a week of visitation, which can be broken into multiple-hour periods until their protective hearing on April 30.
“I have concerns going both ways, quite frankly,” Minas said, adding Mortensen’s alleged “pushing of buttons to get reaction.”
Mortensen asked the court to turn a short-term protective order filed on March 19 against the 31-year-old reality star into a long-term one as authorities investigate domestic violence reports from earlier this year.
Less than an hour before Tuesday’s hearing, Paul filed for a temporary restraining order against Mortensen. Paul’s representative confirmed to Global News that a protective order was filed Tuesday.
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In Paul’s April 7 filing, obtained by Variety, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star included multiple allegations of physical violence committed by Mortensen alongside photos of bruises on Paul’s arms, legs and face. It also included text messages between Paul and Mortensen in which she mentions one of her injuries.
Paul said that Mortensen recently tattooed her initials on the inside of his lip and sent her photos of the new ink on Feb. 14. She alleges that the tattoo and text message conversations included in her filing constitute harassment.
Both orders are a response to the reports under investigation from February, following an open “domestic assault investigation” regarding Paul and Mortensen.
The hearing was not in reference to the 2023 fight that led to Paul’s arrest and resurfaced just before her Bachelorette season was supposed to premiere.
Paul was previously arrested for domestic violence charges following the incident in 2023.
She faced misdemeanour charges of assault, criminal mischief and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child after she was accused of throwing a chair at Mortensen that reportedly hit her daughter.
Paul pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in August 2023, while the other charges were dismissed, according to ABC4 Utah.
Footage of the alleged 2023 incident between Paul and Mortensen, where she can be seen kicking and hitting her ex-boyfriend and throwing chairs at him, was leaked to TMZ on March 19.
“Your daughter is right here,” Mortensen says in the video before Paul throws a chair in his direction.
ABC decided to pull season 22 of The Bachelorette, starring Paul, after the video surfaced.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” Disney Entertainment Television said in a statement on March 20.
Disney’s statement did not include details on what the network planned to do with the already filmed season of the dating reality series.
Following the news of the season cancellation, Paul said in a statement from her spokesperson: “Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security. After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm.
“There are too many women who are suffering in silence as they survive aggressive, jealous ex-partners who refuse to let them move on with their lives. Taylor has remained silent out of fear of further abuse, retaliation and public shaming. She is currently exploring all of her options, seeking support, and preparing to own and share her story.”
On Friday, Variety reported that Mortensen’s storyline would be cut from the upcoming season of Vanderpump Villa.
Lisa Vanderpump, an executive producer of Vanderpump Villa, told People that Mortensen “didn’t really have a big storyline,” so editing him out of the third season of the reality series “hasn’t affected the story.”
“We don’t want to shine a spotlight on something that’s been so controversial when we have so much great content,” Vanderpump said.
— With files from The Associated Press
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