Former “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Cast Member Sues Hulu for Defamation
Dakota Mortensen, the ex-boyfriend of Taylor Frankie Paul, has filed a defamation suit against Hulu and two production companies. He says the reality series staged events and cut footage to paint him as an abuser and cheater. He seeks more than $300,000.
Dakota Mortensen, a former cast member of Hulu's reality series "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," has sued Hulu and the show's producers for defamation, seeking unspecified damages in excess of $300,000. He says the series staged scenarios to portray him as an abuser and a cheater.
The suit names Hulu, Jeff Jenkins Productions and Ludwig Productions. Mortensen is the ex-boyfriend of co-star Taylor Frankie Paul. He left the show in April.
What the lawsuit alleges
Mortensen accuses producers of deceiving viewers with a storyline "assembled from staged events and from the deliberate deletion of footage that contradicted the storyline, and published after the producers had been informed by Mortensen and by others, that the allegations were false."
The filing says seasons 3, 4 and 5 presented him to millions of viewers as a domestic abuser. It also says the show cast him as a man who reported the mother of his child to child protective services, and as a serial adulterer.
"The knowingly false portrayal of Mortensen as the abuser in the relationship continued uninterrupted," the suit states. It adds that the only footage of physical aggression between the two, aggression by Paul against Mortensen, "was intentionally withheld from viewers to promote a false narrative."
According to the court documents, Mortensen claims cameras captured Paul hitting him with a pizza box, and producers left that footage out of the final episodes. He also denies calling child protective services on Paul.
A year of legal fights
Representatives for Hulu, Jeff Jenkins Productions and Ludwig Productions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paul has not publicly responded to the suit.
Mortensen and Paul have been in a legal battle for most of 2026. In March, ABC pulled Paul's season of "The Bachelorette" days before its premiere, after video surfaced online of a 2023 domestic violence incident between the two. Paul was arrested over that incident, which was discussed in season 1 of the show.
Production on "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" paused during a separate domestic assault investigation in Utah, a Draper City Police Department spokesperson confirmed. In April, the Salt Lake County district attorney declined to file charges against Paul. The office said several incidents "do not rise to the level of criminal offenses" and that the rest lacked sufficient evidence.
Filming on season 5 resumed a week later, and both Mortensen and Paul appeared in it. A Utah judge has granted the former couple mutual three-year protective orders. They are still fighting over custody of their son, Ever.
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