Taylor Frankie Paul is going after her two biggest enemies online right now: Dakota Mortensen and Mikayla Matthews.
On Thursday, the 31-year-old reality star took to Instagram to post a picture of her crying and a lengthy statement to open up about her tumultuous relationship with Dakota following their domestic violence scandal. Although she never mentions him by name, it is clearly about him. Taylor starts by saying she recognizes she’s not “fully innocent” after their legal troubles:
“It’s so sad because nobody wants to be like this. I hate that I am no longer myself. I hate that I stayed for so long. I blame nobody more than my own damn self, because how did I allow this for my kids and myself for so long? I’m sorry to THEM. I don’t need to log off and remain silent. I’ve already admitted in court I’m fully NOT INNOCENT, I know that. None of it is okay, period.”
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That said, Taylor explained she has been “in survival mode” over the past few years but couldn’t ever ask for help out of fear she would get in trouble since she is on probation following her 2023 domestic violence arrest:
“I’ve been in survival mode for years with miscarriages, pregnancy, postpartum, and horrible betrayal with so many lies told, which added to the trauma on my body physically, hormonally, mentally, and emotionally. Those layers also matter. To make it more difficult, I was scared to call for help or tell anyone because I was being reminded I would be the one in trouble given I’m the one on probation already. Imagine being pregnant & postpartum healing internally and too scared to ask for help or at the very least speak about it and he knew he had that advantage, which gave him MORE access to do whatever, knowing I’d remain silent.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star expressed she felt “insane” for a long time because Dakota allegedly gaslit and twisted everything that happened in their relationship:
“What people aren’t understanding is you don’t even realize you’re in it and what’s happening psychologically for a long time. You solely believe you’re the only insane one because they twist everything that you eventually feel insane. Then to find out you weren’t insane, in fact, I was right about it all, which is gut-wrenching to learn. Was always projection. It’s a human response to eventually snap and then getting stuck in the cycle because they console you, saying, ‘It’s okay you’re acting out, I’m still here for you and love you still,’ which then you’re feeling bad as they are aware they are gaslighting you. Even after learning a lot of that, you STILL want to be held by that same person. It’s twisted, I know.”
Oof…
As for why she didn’t “leave sooner?” She told followers to “look at how it ended for me when I finally did,” claiming:
“I was love bombed then manipulated, threatened, physically hurt, cops called on me, publicly humiliated, lost most friends because he got to them, CPS called, and now in court all because I said no more and he knew I meant it this time.”
As you know, the pair requested temporary restraining orders against each other after a domestic dispute in February, which led to the halt of Mormon Wives production and the eventual cancellation of her Bachelorette season. Prosecutors declined to press charges against Taylor, and a judge granted them mutual protective orders.
However, they are currently in the middle of a custody battle over their 2-year-old son, Ever. Dakota has temporary custody of him, while Taylor only has supervised visitation. They’re headed back to court over the matter in June, but who knows if they’ll figure out an arrangement by then! She still seems pretty upset over how everything has transpired:
“The difference between us, my love was real for him without gaining anything, and people know that. Not sure it was the same in return. I cried the whole way home after court, allowing the pain through. I wish he had been the person he pretended to be. I experienced enough, I saw too much. The mask fell off, and not only with me. We’re both in the wrong. What I can say is I didn’t want to ruin his life, call cops on him, take his child away, or claim complete innocence … that’s the difference between us.”
Taylor didn’t just take aim at Dakota, though! She also had more to say about her new nemesis, Mikayla, who publicly revealed she distanced herself from the MomTok queen bee! Taylor concluded:
“And then we have friends like Mikayla that come at me during all this, and now she wants me to apologize? Absolutely not. She can go kick rocks instead of kicking me right now.”
Look, regardless of whether you agree or not, it is obvious Mikayla hurt Taylor with her initial statement during this difficult time. But the former Bachelorette also didn’t help matters by grossly weaponizing her co-star’s childhood sexual abuse trauma. That wasn’t OK. Mikayla does deserve an apology, too. Just saying!
We wish everyone involved peace and hope these two former pals can work things out. Hopefully, Taylor and Dakota can also one day have an amicable co-parenting relationship for the sake of their son. But clearly, a lot of healing needs to take place first. Read Taylor’s entire post (below):
View this post on Instagram
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
[Image via Dakota Mortensen/Mikayla Matthews/Taylor Frankie Paul/Instagram]
