Palak JayswalKristy B. Erica K. Isabella M. Within the span of a minute on Friday, these individuals joined a rapidly growing list of thousands who are asking Disney and ABC for one thing: to release Utah reality star Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette.”
In March, Brooklyn resident Breanna Negron started the petition on the website Change.org. It now has more than 21,000 signatures — at least 5,000 of them coming after Paul shared the petition on her Instagram story on Thursday night and said that she signed it herself.
“This decision has taken away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from a woman who earned her place, and from fans who were ready to support her journey. Many of us stand firmly with Taylor Frankie Paul,” Negron wrote in the petition’s explanation.
ABC canceled the season three days before it was set to air after a video was released showing Paul in a 2023 domestic altercation. Paul had already faced criminal charges stemming from the event and had addressed it publicly on her reality TV show, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” But the video brought new concerns to the public.
Last week, Paul’s probation stemming from the 2023 incident came to an end, and the felony charge she originally faced was reduced to a misdemeanor.
TMZ reported in June that ABC was preparing to air Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette,” but that has yet to happen.
Supporters of the petition can leave comments or video testimonials.
One petition signer, Deja, wrote, “Her past wasn’t even a secret [,] release the show.” Another person recorded a message to say the season not being released was “absolutely ridiculous.”
In a Facebook fan group for Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” commenters had mixed reactions. One user named Gin wrote, “Hard pass...is there a link to telling them NO.”
Meanwhile, Paul is still involved in an ongoing legal battle with her ex-partner Dakota Mortensen over parent time for the child they share. At the monthly hearings, 3rd District commissioner Russell Minas and a court-appointed attorney for the child have expressed some concern over Paul’s “volatile behavior.”
Palak Jayswal is an award-winning journalist who covers culture/music at The Tribune. She graduated from the University of Utah and has lived in Utah her entire life. Her work spans areas of coverage in the cultural world. She loves writing about how culture —and the people who create it— shape life in Utah. She aspires to write for Rolling Stone.