Amid their ongoing drama, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen faced off in court yesterday.
Due to their continued fighting and inability to function around each other, including a shocking domestic violence incident that led to SLOMW being temporarily paused, the judge presiding over the case ended up recommending mutual protective orders.
“So my recommendation is going to be mutual protective orders,” he stated. “I want there to be a 100-foot stay away for each of their orders. Both counsel referred to it.”
He noted this has been “a very toxic relationship” that has been “beyond the pale in a lot of ways.”
“I’ve had some thoughts about this,” he continued. “I’m finding that there’s been violence that’s occurred both ways, and the problem is that the two of them can’t be together in the same place at the same time for very long before it starts to turn violent.”
He went on to share that Taylor and Dakota have a lot of things to figure out.
“You have to figure out how to function as co-parents,” the judge elaborated. “This has been dysfunctional. This is a lifelong proposition between the two of you. You’re going to be – you’re linked together for the remainder of your lives. You’re gonna be the grandparents of the same grandkids someday. You’ll be at their same graduations, their same weddings. You’re modeling right now how you deal with conflict to a two-year-old. This is going to – this can affect this child when the child grows up and becomes an adult. You’ve got to put your child first and shield the child from this conflict.“
While in court, it was also revealed that Taylor suffered two miscarriages before another domestic violence incident that took place in 2023.
“This was a very difficult time in their relationship,” Taylor’s lawyer shared with the court. “They were going through some challenges, of course, compounded by the fact that my client was dealing with two recent miscarriages.”
“Alcohol was also a massive factor in the 2023 incident, a factor that is no longer an issue,” her lawyer added. “She has not consumed alcohol.”
One other thing that took place in court was a ruling on the custody of Ever, the son Taylor and Dakota share.
The judge decided that the current custody arrangement, where Dakota has primary physical custody and Taylor gets eight hours of visitation a week, will stand for now. A final decision on modifying or changing this was pushed to May 11.
As the court came to an end, Taylor went over to Dakota’s mother, told her she was sorry, and hugged her.
Taylor spoke about the hug in a comment on Instagram, stating, “This was my goodbye to a family my older kids and I loved deeply.”
The judge also called the Hulu stars’ relationship a toxic “obsession” on both sides before going on to describe Dakota as “calculating” and “deliberative” compared to Taylor, who is more “reactive.”