ABC Reportedly Weighs Ending ‘The Bachelorette’ Franchise After Taylor Frankie Paul Disaster

The fallout from the cancellation of Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette has been massive, with sponsors dropping out and reports that some of the production staff might have to be laid off. Now, a new report claims that ABC is considering pulling the plug on the franchise as a whole.

“The word being used internally is toxic,” a source told Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack on Friday, March 20. “No one believes this show is about love anymore.”

The source continued, “It’s about casting messy people, rewarding bad behavior, and chasing ratings. That’s the formula now. ABC does not want to become Bravo. That’s the fear.”

As Star previously reported, TMZ shared new footage of Paul, 31, from a 2023 assault incident involving her and her now ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. In the clip, viewers saw the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star repeatedly attacking Mortensen, 33, in front of her daughter, Indy. (Paul shares Indy and son Ocean with her ex-husband, Tate, and son Ever with Mortensen.)

She could also be seen throwing multiple metal bar stools at him, and one of the stools collided with Indy, who was just 5 years old at the time.

While footage of Paul’s arrest had previously circulated, and was even shown during season 1 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the video of the actual attack was only released this week.

Shortly after it was released, ABC announced they were canceling her upcoming season, which was set to premiere on Sunday, March 22.

The source also told Naughty But Nice that “viewership has been sliding for a long time” and fans “know what this show really is now.”

“It used to be escapism. Now it feels exploitative,” the source explained. “This is messy. But honestly? It was bound to happen eventually.”

The source added that while nothing official has happened just yet, ABC is “asking a very serious question – is it time to end this for good?”