Sources familiar with the show (and ABC’s current predicament) say ABC could lose tens of millions of dollars if it can’t find a way to salvage The Bachelorette. This includes Warner Bros. licensing fees for unscripted television, marketing costs and other revenue losses.
ABC abruptly canceled the show on Thursday after vowing all week that it had no plans to do so after a video surfaced showing 2023 star Taylor Frankie Paul throwing a chair at estranged partner Dakota Mortensen and accidentally hitting a child.
The last-minute preemption poses a number of problems, especially since Warner Bros. TV Group doesn’t own the show. It was unclear as of Thursday whether “The Bachelorette” would continue to be aired on TV elsewhere, as Warner Bros. distributes the show internationally to stations such as Canada’s Rogers City TV. ABC quickly removed Paul and “The Bachelorette” from its website by Thursday afternoon, but they still appeared on the Citytv+ website by midday. (Update: Citytv has confirmed that it will air rerun episodes of “American Idol” in that time slot, simulcast with ABC.)
Insiders say Warner Bros. executives are in contact with ABC to see what’s going on. (The studio is paid a license fee for the show whether it airs or not.) Studio officials were shocked to learn of the video at the same time ABC learned of it Thursday morning.
Still, some people can’t say they were surprised by the sudden turn of events. Sources say Warner Bros. had concerns about Paul’s casting due to his well-known history of domestic violence. After all, it’s recorded at the beginning of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
“To be honest, we are collateral damage,” said one source. But insiders say Warner Bros., as a seller, agreed to let Paul be the face of “The Bachelorette” after ABC pointed out that Paul and “Mormon Wives” were important franchises for the company.
Warner Bros. Unscripted is also behind the podcast “Bachelor Happy Hour” in partnership with iHeart Media.
Ironically, this season of “The Bachelorette” was supposed to be a reboot of sorts for the series, which hasn’t aired since the summer of 2024.
The “Bachelor” franchise has been on a bit of a turnaround since showrunners Claire Freeland and Bennett Grebner left the show last year following reports of “toxic” workplace allegations, and the series has bounced around at the top. Scott Teti, showrunner and EP of Bachelor in Paradise, will be his successor.
With all the changes to the franchise, the cycle has changed a bit as well, with “The Bachelorette” going on hiatus starting in the summer of 2025 and returning this time in the winter/spring of 2026. (“The Bachelor” traditionally airs in the winter, but the air date has also been moved).
The ‘Bachelorette’ scandal may necessitate a reboot of the series. Another irony is that it was the “Golden Bachelor” that many believed brought back hearts and emotions to “Bachelor” country.
On the other hand, no one seems to think this is fatal for “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette.” In fact, insiders predict that Paul’s The Bachelorette will continue to see the light of day — perhaps only on Hulu, or maybe even on ABC’s summer schedule. But before that, they expect to receive a lot of condemnation from Paul.
After all, the paradox of reality TV is that the public often derides it as “garbage.” So when a show like this comes along, it’s not completely unexpected and would be considered a death sentence for a TV show in that it could cause permanent damage to professional actors and their scripted series.
