We Should Blame Ourselves, Too, for Bachelorette Scandal

Taylor Frankie Paul isn't the only reality star under the microscope after fresh controversy, argues a piece by Inae Oh in Mother Jones that turns the lens back on viewers, as well as on the reality-TV machine that made Paul famous. The so-called MomTok influencer's "soft-swinging" admission birthed Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives—and now, after TMZ released video of an alleged 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul and Dakota Mortensen, it's helped sink her season as ABC's next Bachelorette, just days before it was to air. Public reaction has been swift, including slams against ABC for ever casting her, as well as general disgust on social media. Oh, however, contends that all of this outrage is coming too easily, and that it's been "disorienting to watch friends take to Instagram to chastise ABC or rail against Paul as 'trash'—only to privately express excitement about MomTok drama."

Similar allegations that led to Paul's arrest were mentioned in the show's first season—minus the footage—and audiences kept watching anyway. Oh questions why fellow "Mormon wives" who are now professing to be shocked over the more recent allegations stayed quiet, despite apparently knowing more. "I can't help but wonder whether such collective silence would ever have been extended to Paul had she not been key to the group's business opportunities—or if she weren't white," Oh writes. She also contrasts Paul's ongoing centrality with how briefly the show handled co-star Layla Taylor's disclosure of an eating disorder. "It bummed me out to see how short it was," Taylor told the Cut earlier this month of her limited spotlight. "I was definitely sad to see that I only got a little bit, because this is something that I've been dealing with my whole entire life." More here.