HERRIMAN — Cellphone footage of Utah mom and influencer Taylor Frankie Paul was not initially released through a public record request, according to documents obtained by the KSL Investigators.
The video, captured by Paul's ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, was included as evidence in a 2023 domestic violence case in which Paul later entered into a plea in abeyance agreement.
ABC scrapped the latest season of "The Bachelorette," starring Paul, after TMZ published the footage on March 19.
Speculation has swirled online about how the video was obtained by the media outlet.
The KSL Investigators filed a public record request under Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act, known as GRAMA, with the investigating agency, the Herriman Police Department, asking for copies of all public record requests received by the agency related to the 2023 case and Paul, as well as the agency's responses to those requests.
The records provided to KSL Wednesday reveal the agency did not publicly release the cellphone video until after it was already published by TMZ.
A TMZ representative filed a request for the footage on March 17, asking the department to "please expedite the footage if possible," but the police department did not respond to that request until March 23, days after TMZ had already published the video.
The KSL Investigators also confirmed with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case, and the Utah Court System that neither entity released the footage.
