On March 19, 2026, ABC cancelled the newest season of “The Bachelorette” set to star the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” favorite, Taylor Frankie Paul. Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” was canceled a mere three days before its expected release date, leaving fans shocked. Although the majority of the season had already been filmed, the network decided they needed to trash the season due to a newfound assault scandal featuring Taylor Frankie Paul. Earlier in the day, before ABC made its decision to pull the plug on the new season of “The Bachelorette”, TMZ released new footage of Taylor Frankie Paul assaulting her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Montrensen, amid a fight. The footage gained so much attention that not only did the Bachelorette take a step back, but “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” paused filming to reevaluate whether or not this new season should be released. Amid all of this negative publicity for Paul, is this backlash from the media equal to the backlash most athletes who find themselves in similar positions receive?
Assault in any situation deserves to be handled very seriously, as it is inherently dangerous, but often, athletes who face assault charges tend to be let off the hook much more easily than other celebrities. In 2021, twenty-four women came forward and filed lawsuits over alleged sexual misconduct and assault against the former Texans quarterback, Deshaun Watson. After these lawsuits from twenty-four separate women, Watson’s only punishment from the NFL was to pay a hefty fine followed by an 11-game suspension. That is less than a one-game suspension for every two women who sued him. An 11-game suspension also doesn’t constitute an entire season in the NFL, so he continued to play after his suspension. After the legal disputes were settled, Watson was able to sign a massive contract with the Cleveland Browns shortly thereafter. So, although Paul received such an immense amount of negative publicity following her assault accusations to the point that one of her TV appearances was canceled and another is on thin ice, Watson was able to salvage his image and transfer to another extremely respectable football program.
Deshaun Watson does not stand as the only example of the NFL’s leniency towards accusations of assault against athletes. In 2014, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was charged with assault after a video surfaced of him striking his wife unconscious. Rice serves as a key comparison to the situation Taylor Frankie Paul finds herself in, as there was video evidence released to the public in both cases. The difference between the cases, though, is that Rice only served a two-day suspension due to a ruling by the NFL, while Paul may have her entire show canceled over these disputes. It wasn’t until the public pressured the NFL more that Rice was suspended for more than the original two-game policy. “I’m a huge fan of the NFL, but I can’t understand how the NFL and football fans are okay with watching these players on their televisions when we know all that they did,” said junior Brendan Blatt. It is clear that Paul deserves repercussions for her actions, but the response to her actions does not seem to be equal to those of athletes in the NFL facing similar charges.