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Newly released bodycam footage from the night of Taylor Frankie Paul’s 2023 domestic violence incident with ex Dakota Mortensen shows the reality star slurring her words and arguing with a police officer.
The footage, which was obtained by TMZ and shared on Tuesday, March 24, was dated February 17, 2023. Taylor, 31, could be seen standing outside her home, seemingly intoxicated as she told a police officer that she wanted to go back inside and preferred if Dakota, 33, would go outside. Taylor then walked inside the home and told Dakota, “No, ‘Taylor, OK.’ Get out of my house, Dakota.”
Taylor claimed to the officer that Dakota “pushed [her] in [her] garage.” (Additional bodycam footage released by TMZ on Monday, March 23, showed Dakota claiming that Taylor was “attacking the crap out of [him].” The outlet also recently released a video from that night which showed Taylor throwing chairs at Dakota.)
The officer repeatedly asked Taylor to remain calm and keep her voice down to avoid waking up her children. Taylor shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul. She and Dakota also welcomed son Ever, 2, in March 2024, just over one year after the domestic violence incident took place.
The officer told Taylor that she was being “problematic” and asked her not to make a phone call as she called her father and tearfully asked him to come to her house. She also asked the officer questions about his personal life, including whether or not he had kids, and “what exactly” his job is.
“My job is to assist you in calming down,” he told Taylor.
Elsewhere in the footage, Taylor appeared to lose her balance as she filled a glass with water from a dispenser in the fridge. She also denied that she was “extremely intoxicated,” telling the officer that she was a “2 out of 10.” She offered to take a “blezeryzer” test before clarifying that she meant to say “breathalyzer.”
Later in the footage, Taylor asked, “Is that a crime to fight?”
“It depends,” the officer responded.
Taylor began sobbing as the officer encouraged her to take calming breaths.
After an investigation, police determined that Taylor was the “primary aggressor” in the altercation, as seen in the bodycam footage released on Monday. She was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, child abuse and criminal mischief.
Us confirmed that Taylor pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault as part of a plea deal for the other charges to be dropped. The charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor if she abides by the deal’s terms for three years.
Taylor’s rep responded to the release of the footage of the reality star’s altercation with Dakota in a statement to 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,” Paul’s spokesperson said on Thursday, March 19. “Releasing an old and selectively edited video on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior.”
Meanwhile, Dakota told Us Weekly, “As anyone who has seen the video will understand, this is a deeply upsetting situation. I am, unfortunately, used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny. I am focusing on our son and his safety, and hope that Taylor will do the same.”
In light of the video’s release, ABC canceled Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette, which was set to premiere on Sunday, March 22. Taylor’s custody of son Ever, 2, was suspended in a legal battle with Dakota stemming from a separate domestic violence incident last month.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
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