Taylor Frankie Paul may be best known as the creator of #MomTok, but she has made headlines for multiple reasons in recent years.
Paul, who lives in Utah and has three young children, was arrested last February on charges including assault and committing domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Her arrest came as a surprise to many followers of #MomTok, a social media community that originally centered around Paul and other young Mormon mothers posting dancing and lip syncing videos.
Paul also went viral when she opened up about her experiences with “soft swinging” in a May 2022 video.
In that video, she said she had violated the agreement she had with her then-husband, Tate Paul, around non-monogamy in their marriage.
She also said in the video that “soft swinging” was practiced by others in her circle of mom friends and their husbands. She never shares the names of the other alleged participants.
“No one was innocent,” said Paul, who has more than 4 million followers on TikTok. “Everyone has hooked up with, like, everyone in this situation.”
Paul, 30, opens up about her controversies in Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” an eight-part reality series that follows Paul and her fellow Mormon mom influencers as they navigate the aftermath of the bombshell #MomTok scandal.
The series also captures the night she was arrested.
Keep reading to learn more about Taylor Frankie Paul, including her role in the #MomTok sex scandal and her 2023 arrest.
Paul went viral in 2022 when she opened up about her ‘soft swinging’ experiencesPaul opened up about her marriage to Tate Paul in a May 2022 TikTok Live video.
In the video — which is no longer available on Paul’s TikTok page but has been shared widely online — Paul explained that she and her then-husband had been taking part in soft swinging, a type of consensual non-monogamy that involves being intimate with other people’s partners.
While there is no official definition of soft swinging, Paul described it as “when you just hook up but you don’t go all the way.”
Paul also said she had “messed up” by violating the boundaries she and her husband had agreed when it came to their sexual activities with other people.
“The agreement was just like, as long as we were both there and we saw it and we knew it, it was OK,” she said. “And the second it goes behind without each other, you’ve stepped out of the agreement. And I did that.”
She said that her violation of her and her husband’s soft swinging agreement had been a “one-time thing.”
Paul also suggested that other friends in their circle participated in soft swinging, although she said that “the majority of MomTok is not involved.” She did not identify other participants by name.
“They’ve been really sweet to me, and texting me, and they know there are two sides to the story,” she said.
Paul also opened up about when she and her husband had decided to part ways.
“For Tate and I, I think it’s best that we separate and divorce, and kind of find ourselves and find what makes us happy, start fresh,” she said. “I think there’s been a lot of evil around us and we’ve participated in, obviously… And I think we need a fresh start and to kind of wake up. This was a good wake up call for us and our entire friend group.”
Paul was arrested in 2023 on charges including assault and domestic violence
On Feb. 17, 2023, Paul was arrested on misdemeanor charges of assault, criminal mischief, and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, the Herriman Police Department said in a news release shared on X.
That night, Paul allegedly threw a phone and a wooden play set at her boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, striking him and damaging his vehicle, according to an indictment obtained by TODAY.com.
The police officer who responded to the incident also reported that Paul threw “heavy, metal” chairs at her boyfriend, at one point striking him in the head, and leading Mortensen to report he “felt scared for his life.”
Mortensen asked Paul to stop because one of her children was next to him on the couch, the officer said.
According to the same court document, when Paul threw a metal barstool at Mortensen, the stool also hit her child, named in the court document by her initials, I.P.
In a follow-up interview included in the indictment, a detective was informed the child had a “goose egg on her head, which was painful.”
Paul “admitted to throwing the metal chairs and wooden playset,” the court document said.
Following the incident, Paul did not post any TikTok videos for a month.
She returned to the platform on March 18, 2023, with a video showing her and Mortensen waking up together, going to the gym and running errands.
“It’s been a minute, missed you guys,” she wrote in the caption.
Paul reached a plea deal in her assault case later that year
Paul reached a plea deal in her assault case in late August 2023. She pled guilty to aggravated assault, and the other charges against her were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they were permanently dismissed, according to court documents viewed by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Under the terms of her plea agreement, Paul “must obtain both a substance abuse evaluation and a domestic violence evaluation” and “must not violate any laws above a minor traffic violation,” The Salt Lake Tribune also reported.
Days after reaching the plea deal, Paul reflected on how she was doing a few in a TikTok video.
”I don’t owe anyone an explanation besides the people involved. Court is officially over ‘til next year. They’ll just check in and see how I’m doing — if I’m still doing better,” she said in the Sept. 1 video. “As much as I wish that night had went differently, I felt like hitting rock bottom actually helped me in some ways. Made me seek help that I wasn’t getting at the time.”
In February 2024, Paul shared on TikTok that she was “one year sober” and reflected on her arrest the previous year.
“Last year on this day was, like, the worst day of my life,” she said. “As I’m sure a lot of you may already know, I ended up in jail that night. As awful and embarrassing as that was, that brought me where I am today. That was for sure my rock bottom, wake-up call moment.”
About Paul’s family, including her partner, ex-husband and kids
Paul shares two children with ex-husband Tate Paul: a daughter, Indy, 7, and a son, Ocean, 4.
The influencer revealed in May 2022 that she and her husband were divorcing.
“In my twenties, getting divorced, starting therapy, living on my own for the first time ever along with two little kids,” she captioned a TikTok video showing her standing in an empty house.
She and Dakota Mortensen started dating later that year.
Today, Paul says she, her ex-husband and her current partner are in a good place with each other, and she says she doesn’t mind having so many old videos of her ex-husband still posted on social media.
“It’s still such a part of my story, my life. It’s my my kids’ dad,” she said in a recent interview with TODAY.com as she promoted her new Hulu reality series. “So (Tate) is still going to always be an important figure in their lives and mine.”
She added that her ex-husband and Mortensen “get along.”
“They’re buddies, you know, and I’m buddies with (Tate’s) partner,” she said. “I don’t know if that makes anyone uncomfortable, but that’s OK, because I think it’s part of my story. It’s authentic.”
In November 2022, Paul revealed she had experienced an ectopic pregnancy after conceiving a baby with Mortensen.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, meaning the pregnancy is not viable, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“At the time, I felt very alone, and not a lot of stories on it, so if you’re out there struggling with this, you’re not alone,” Paul said in a later TikTok video.
“After bleeding for seven weeks, I just went into a deep depression, and they said it’s normal to get postpartum depression,” she also said. “I actually didn’t realize how traumatizing that experience was until I was out of it.”
In March 2024, she and Mortenson welcomed a son, Ever True.
“Ever True was born March 19th, 6lbs 15oz a week early and we’ve had the best two weeks with him. We all love you so much, thank you for blending our family,” she wrote on Instagram after Ever was born.
Paul posts regularly about all three of her kids on social media, and she reflected on how fast time was going in a post celebrating Ocean’s first birthday in a June 2021 Instagram post.
“I refuse to believe it’s been a year with my Ocean, but the calendar says otherwise. Happy birthday to my sweet boy, I LOVE YOU so much,” she captioned a photo of her, Ocean and Indy. “Time flies gotta cherish these young years.”
She also marked Indy’s fourth birthday on Instagram in August 2021.
“Happy 4th birthday to my sassy sometimes sweet baby girl,” she wrote in the caption. “Can’t believe she is four. Indy is extremely smart and is the cutest big sis to Ocean. She loves make up, nails, dresses, anything girly. Starts school here soon and excited to see her next phase of life. I love my babies more words can say.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
