Taylor Frankie Paul Could Be Fined for ‘Breach of Contact’ as Her Bachelorette Cancellation Costs ABC Millions—Execs Are ‘Furious’ at Her
The cancellation of the Taylor Frankie Paul season of ABC’s The Bachelorette is one of the biggest scandals in reality TV in years. Pulling a season that was already filmed off the air is a big decision, after all. Particularly because Paul’s fame had been the reason she got cast in the first place, and ABC had put a lot of money into promoting the season. Collabs were in place. Now, all that has been cancelled.
And who’s footing that bill? According to TMZ, ABC and Warner Bros. Discovery are trying to weather the fallout and figure out how to foot the bill. Reportedly, the show costs around $2 million per episode to produce, and there are now discussions about who will bear the cost. Reportedly, only one episode, the one that was set to air this week, was finalized.
Three others were in the process of being edited, and the rest hadn’t been touched. That means the post-production staff that had been hired to work on them will not need to be laid off. But that’s not the only issue ABC is facing. The show reportedly had a set number of “trade-outs,” or instances where airlines, hotels, and other companies and brands pay money in return for being featured on the show. ABC will now not see that money.
Another big problem? The next Bachelor. ABC typically picks the lead in the next season from the top contestants on the previous season of The Bachelorette, and does so based on audience reaction. Now, without the show airing, their top contenders don’t seem viable anymore, and it might mean the next season of The Bachelor will be delayed as they figure out who to cast.
Could Taylor Frankie Paul end up sharing some of the financial burden, particularly considering the season was scrapped because of a domestic assault investigation involving Taylor and Dakota Mortensen? The US. Sun reported about the star of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, “She’s in hot water for many reasons, but more than any because this is a potential breach of conduct in the contract that she signed,” according to a production source. Contracts of this type usually include behavioral clauses. However, and this is crucial, the incident that caused the season to be canned happened in 2023 and was already public knowledge.
“At the end of the day, she could potentially be financially liable,” sources said, but explained, “They most likely won’t take her to court though. What they will most likely do, if anything, is withhold future payments she’s owed.”
Execs are reportedly furious not just about what happened, but about the spoiler. “They’re furious with Taylor. Not only for the bad look, but it’s also clear she doesn’t get her happily ever after since she’s still having issues with Dakota so it’s a complete mess.” Sources even went as far as saying, “If they could hit a redo button and have never had come into contact with Taylor Frankie Paul, they absolutely would do that.”
A spokesperson for Paul told People in response to the video, “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. Releasing an old video, which conveniently omits context, on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior. Thankfully, the public has seen this act before and knows who he is, and sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both in his actions on the show and from their own experiences.”
Rob Shuter reported that the decision made will cost ABC money, but financial considerations were behind it. “More advertisers were threatening to pull out,” an insider revealed. “That’s when panic really set in.”
“This wasn’t about numbers anymore,” the source added. “It became about reputation — and money.”
