Another ‘Mormon Wives’ Star Speaks out on Taylor Frankie Paul Scandal

Whitney Leavitt has broken her silence on the scandal surrounding Taylor Frankie Paul’s domestic violence investigation.

Almost a week after Paul’s season of The Bachelorette was pulled following the release of a 2023 video capturing a domestic violence incident with ex Dakota Mortensen, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star spoke out in a conversation with Interview magazine published on Wednesday.

“I have a lot of emotions about it and I’m still processing everything that’s happening,” the Dancing With the Stars alum said, “but the safety of human beings, especially children, comes first. Always, period, the end.”

Leavitt, who shares kids Sedona, 6, Liam, 4, and Billy Gene, 17 months, with husband Connor Leavitt, added, “I don’t want that to be tolerated. I don’t want that to be overlooked. It’s just so fresh. That’s all I have to say about that.”

In the video of the 2023 incident released by TMZ last week, Paul could be seen yelling and throwing a chair at Mortensen while her daughter was in the room. Paul was ultimately arrested following the altercation and eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

The 2023 video resurfaced days after Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 was confirmed to have paused filming following a separate domestic violence investigation involving Paul and Mortensen that is still under investigation by the Draper Police Department.

On Friday, Mortensen was granted a temporary restraining order against Paul as well as temporary custody of their 2-year-old son, Ever.

On Tuesday, NBC News reported that police are investigating a third alleged domestic violence incident involving Paul and Mortensen from 2024.

Amid Paul’s growing scandal, several of the TikTok personality’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives have denounced her actions, including Layla Taylor and Miranda Hope.

“My personal history as a survivor makes it impossible for me to stay silent,” Taylor wrote in an Instagram Story on Friday. “I stand firmly against domestic violence in any form. I keep her children in my thoughts, hoping for their safety above all else.”

Hope added in her own Instagram Story that day, “Everything has been really tough to see. Domestic violence and abuse of any kind is something I take very seriously. As a human, and especially as a mother, I cannot support that kind of behavior.”

Jessi Draper also addressed the situation on Wednesday’s episode of Call Her Daddy, claiming that Paul is “a good person” who “made some mistakes.”

“Seeing that video is so hard,” Draper said. “There’s so much pain underneath the surface for Taylor. And I tell her this all the time, it’s not who Taylor is. She got caught in a really bad cycle and just seeing that video—yes, the child being involved is awful—and everyone involved, is really hard.”

“I’m not saying any of it is right,” she continued. “But I know Taylor as a person, and it’s so easy to speculate about people on a reality show like we’re characters, we’re not real people, but this is our real lives, and I’ve seen Taylor in her darkest moments, holding her crying…and I want this to maybe be a wake up call for them.”