The Bachelorette with Taylor Frankie Paul canceled at ABC

In what feels like news that was largely inevitable over the past few hours, The Bachelorette with Taylor Frankie Paul is not moving forward.

In a statement today, ABC indicated that they are shelving the season with the following message: “In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family.”

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The video in question featured Paul and her ex Dakota Mortenson, and was shared earlier in the day by TMZ. This video took place years ago, and it came to light in the midst of allegations regarding another more recent incident.

ABC moving forward following the video release is not surprising; however, the entire saga does raise a lot of questions as to why the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star was cast in the first place, especially when there were past allegations out there many months ago. The idea was seemingly to capitalize on a different reality franchise to revitalize Bachelor Nation, which has waned in popularity over the past few years.

Can the franchise even be rebooted at this point?

That remains the question, as there was likely a good bit of money sunk into a property here that may never air. The words “at this time” in a aforementioned statement do suggest there is still a chance that the season could eventually see the light of day, but we would not bank on it at this point. After all, it is hard to imagine that much in the way of public sentiment changing after what we saw today.

Do you think it was the right move for ABC to cancel The Bachelorette?

Or, are you more surprised that the show ever moved forward with this casting in the first place?