Jessi Draper, star of Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” confronts the raw emotion behind Taylor Frankie Paul’s leaked domestic assault video, revealing profound personal pain as the show pauses filming and the reality star faces intensifying scrutiny.
In a pivotal moment for reality television, Jessi Draper has stepped forward to address the explosive leak of a 2023 domestic assault video involving her Mormon Wives co-star Taylor Frankie Paul and Paul’s ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. Speaking on the March 25 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Draper—whose own husband filed for divorce last week—offered a vulnerable defense of Paul, emphasizing that the viral footage captures a moment of deep despair rather than defining her friend’s character. “There’s so much pain underneath the surface for Taylor,” Draper said, tearing up. “She got caught in a really bad cycle.”
Draper’s interview, recorded on March 20 and first reported by Entertainment Weekly, illuminates the human cost behind a scandal that has already halted production on Mormon Wives Season 5 and led to ABC shelving Paul’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette. Her comments also highlight the complex loyalties within the cast as they navigate a crisis that blurs the lines between personal friendship and public accountability.
Credit: Disney/Fred Hayes
The backstory to Draper’s emotional defense is a turbulent history between Paul and Mortensen that predates their reality TV fame. The two share a 2-year-old son, Ever, and their on-again, off-again relationship played out under the scrutiny of Mormon Wives, which premiered in September 2024. The specific incident captured in the leaked video occurred in February 2023, before the show’s debut. Paul was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault, criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child. By August 2023, she pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault, with other charges dismissed, receiving three years of probation—set to conclude this August.
This prior legal resolution was seemingly settled until March 16, 2026, when news broke that Draper City police in Utah had opened a new “domestic assault investigation” involving Paul and Mortensen. A police spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that “allegations have been made in both directions” and that “contact was made with involved parties on [Feb.] 24th and 25th.” The subsequent leak of the 2023 video last week ignited a media firestorm, directly triggering the production pause and the cancellation of Paul’s Bachelorette season.
Credit: Fred Hayes/Disney
For Draper, the video’s resurgence is painfully intimate. She disclosed that the cast knew a video existed since 2023 but had never seen it, choosing instead to withhold judgment. “I don’t like to judge someone in their darkest moment,” she said on Call Her Daddy. This philosophy is tested by the public dissection of Paul’s life, especially as Draper grapples with her own separation—her husband Jordan Ngatikaura filed for divorce days before the interview. Her tears spoke to a broader reality for the cast: their lives, while edited for television, are experiencing genuine crisis.
Draper’s insistence that Paul is “such a good person” who “has made a lot of changes” contrasts with the grim legal developments. Last week, Mortensen was granted a temporary restraining order against Paul and temporary custody of Ever. In a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly, Mortensen described the situation as “deeply upsetting” and denied what he called “baseless claims,” stating he is focused on his son’s safety.
Credit: Natalie Cass/Disney
Paul has maintained a measured public stance. In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, she revealed she implemented “third-party everything”—no direct contact with Mortensen—weeks ago to protect her son. “I didn’t want to bring anything to the public eye,” she said, adding that the leak was not her intention. This attempt to shield her children underscores the conflict Draper describes: a person capable of love and change, yet trapped in a destructive cycle.
The collective response of the Mormon Wives cast underscores the scandal’s gravity. Draper explained that while production initially paused after learning of Mortensen’s police report, the cast collectively decided to halt filming when the story became mainstream. “We just didn’t want to be filming and say the wrong thing on camera, not knowing the full story yet,” she said, citing mental health concerns. “For everyone’s mental health, let’s take a beat.”
As the situation evolves, NBC News reported on March 25 that Paul is under investigation for an additional alleged incident involving Mortensen, suggesting the legal turmoil is far from over. With her probation ending in August, Paul now faces a renewed probe that could jeopardize her freedom and her role in the franchise that made her famous.
Draper’s interview frames the scandal not as a tale of villainy, but as a tragic human struggle. “I’ve seen Taylor at her darkest moments holding her crying,” she reflected. Her plea—for empathy, for healing, for the safety of the children—resonates beyond the tabloid headlines. It forces a question that reality TV often avoids: when the cameras stop rolling, what becomes of the people we watch?
For the Mormon Wives universe, the answer remains uncertain. With production suspended, a key star embattled, and friendships strained, the franchise’s future hinges on whether the “pain underneath the surface” can be addressed off-screen. Draper’s message is clear: judgment is easy, but compassion is the harder, and ultimately more meaningful, path.
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