Taylor Frankie Paul files temporary protective order against ex Dakota Mortensen

Rebecca Cohen Tue, April 7, 2026 at 7:27 PM UTC

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Dakota Mortensen, Taylor Frankie Paul on "The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives" on Hulu. (Fred Hayes / Disney) (Fred Hayes)

Taylor Frankie Paul filed a temporary protective order against Dakota Mortensen on Tuesday, revealing new details about the alleged February domestic violence incident, just before a court hearing on a protective order filed against her by her ex-boyfriend.

The order was filed in the Salt Lake District Court about an hour before Paul and Mortensen attended a hearing on the temporary protective order that Mortensen filed against Paul on March 20, according to her lawyer and court records. Mortensen has previously accused Paul of multiple instances of domestic violence.

Paul’s lawyer, Eric Swinyard, said during Tuesday’s court hearing that the order was “hot off the presses.” Details of Paul’s temporary order were not public in the court docket. The filing, obtained by NBC News, alleges Mortensen has had a “pattern of abusive conduct and coercive control” and detailed four alleged incidents during their relationship.

Among those is the February 2026 incident currently under investigation by the Draper City Police Department. NBC News previously reported that the incident and investigation led the cast of “Mormon Wives” to unanimously decide to pause filming on season five of the Hulu reality TV show.

Swinyard said at Tuesday’s hearing that no charges are expected to be filed against either Paul or Mortensen in Draper City in relation to the 2026 incident.

“Dakota is excellent at escalating and aggravating Taylor; when she reacts, it’s 100 percent at Dakota,” Swinyard said. “Dakota pushes buttons; he is excellent at that. As long as these people stay apart ... then there is no risk to the child.”

A spokesperson for the Draper Police Department and a spokesperson for the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for information on charges in the case.

During one alleged incident in the early hours of Feb. 23, Swinyard said that his client and Mortensen got into an argument in his truck while all three of her kids were sleeping inside her house. Swinyard said Mortensen allegedly drove away with Paul against her wishes, before the two got into an altercation that included Mortensen grabbing her head and slamming it into the dashboard, then hitting her knee and elbow with his fist.

Swinyard’s claims — which he said were not documented in a police report — match the details in Paul’s filed protective order. Swinyard said in court that Paul’s legal team has provided the court with photos of alleged injuries and text messages that immediately follow the incident.

Swinyard also noted that Paul lashed out during the altercation, including throwing a drink at Mortensen, and that “she assaulted him.” But, Swinyard noted, it was Paul “who demanded separation and demanded that he leave,” not Mortensen.

“Her anger is very clearly unambiguously directed at Dakota; it has nothing to do with the children,” Swinyard added.

The Tuesday protective order filed by Paul also notes that on Feb. 14, Mortensen tattooed Paul's initials on the "inside of his lip" and sent her a picture. "Because their relationship had concluded, the photos of his tattoo were very traumatic," the order says.

Mortensen’s lawyer, Daniela Diaz, said that her client is requesting that child visitation be supervised by a facility that can act as a go-between. She added that Mortensen does not believe it is safe for him and Paul to communicate directly because Paul is allegedly “completely out of control” when they argue and “reckless.”

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“What he’s doing here today is trying to protect his son,” Diaz added.

Diaz also alleged that Paul had previously tried “to involve a child in the violence,” but did not provide further details. Matthew McDonald, a guardian ad litem appointed to the case, also noted that Paul “should have the tools to avoid these situations” during the Tuesday hearing.

In response, Paul’s lawyer asked to return to their former child custody schedule, where Paul has their son about 70 percent of the time. Paul’s lawyer argued that Mortensen is not a credible source, that his order “speaks to how vindictive Mr. Mortensen is,” and that both sides have “a lot of allegations against the other.”

In the end, Commissioner Russell Minas ordered supervised parental visits for Paul before she and Mortensen meet again in court on April 30. The hearing is set to “discuss the merits and entry” of both Paul’s new and Mortensen’s already-standing protective orders, the judge said Tuesday. Both Paul and Mortensen will, again, appear virtually.

Paul’s visits with her son, Ever, will be up to eight hours per week and can be broken into multiple-hour periods.

Attorneys for Mortensen declined to comment further on the case. Representatives for Paul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Tuesday court hearing comes during a tumultuous month for both Paul and Mortensen, amid domestic violence allegations made on both sides and hits to their professional careers on screen.

In addition to the Draper investigation, West Jordan police confirmed to NBC News that it is investigating a 2024 incident and that only Mortensen has made allegations against Paul in that case. Police are reviewing multiple videos from the alleged 2024 incident, the spokesman said.

Draper police said that there is a separate open domestic violence investigation into Paul and Mortensen, with allegations on both sides, in its jurisdiction. Police say that the report was called in on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25.

The decision was made during a March 7 call between the cast — excluding Paul and Mortensen — and ABC executives. An audio recording of the call, shared with NBC News on March 19, confirmed the decision-making process.

Also on March 19, TMZ released a video that appeared to be filmed by Mortensen and showed Paul attacking him. The video reportedly captures a 2023 domestic violence incident involving the on-again, off-again couple, for which Paul faced charges.

Court records indicate that in August 2023, Paul pleaded guilty in abeyance to an aggravated assault charge related to that incident. Four other charges in that case — including assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child — were dismissed with prejudice, the records show.

That video led ABC to pull Paul’s upcoming season of “The Bachelorette,” which was supposed to premiere on March 22. Mortensen is still appearing as one of 16 contestants on the Alex Cooper-backed “Unwell Winter Games,” which began streaming on YouTube Monday and will continue throughout the week. Last week, NBC News confirmed Mortensen would be edited out of his brief storyline in Season Three of “Vanderpump Villa.”

“The last 40 days felt like hell on earth,” Paul wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend, which features snapshots and video clips of what appears to be her life over the last few weeks.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”