Credit: Instagram
Taylor Frankie Paul‘s ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen‘s roommate, Cru Eaton, seems to be doing his dirty work after he suffered a loss at a custody hearing earlier this week.
After the 32-year-old Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star was awarded more time with their son, two-year-old Ever, and Dakota, 33, was reprimanded for having the boy on his motorcycle, Cru, 33, posted a series of text messages between Taylor and Dakota from October 2024, as well as a disturbing clip of the two of them in a fight after the child’s birth.
“This conversation is difficult to reconcile with the narrative that has been presented publicly. In these messages, Taylor apologizes for repeatedly becoming physically violent, says she ‘never physically hurt anyone’ before, expresses guilt, and acknowledges her behavior toward Dakota and Ever. These messages speak for themselves. Mental health struggles can provide context, but they do not erase personal responsibility or excuse repeated violence,” Cru wrote in the caption of a screenshot of the messages posted on TikTok on July 9.
In the messages, Taylor and Dakota appeared to be making amends after a dispute.
“I know like back in the day we’d talk for like [five] hours and be like wait HOW where did the time go? Missed that. Gosh I want that again …. It’s not you, it’s my nervous system just automatically gets ready out of habit, which the goal is for us both to feel peaceful around each other,” Taylor wrote in one message.
“I know I seriously miss that with you. And that’s what I want again with you,” Dakota replied. “I wanna lay in bed with you talk about life all night … Yes I feel lit too. It’s just like we talked about that’s the cycle and we have to consciously work it out of our own minds that it doesn’t have to be that way. We can do it.”
Recalling how she kicked Dakota out of her home after the argument, Taylor said she was “so sad” after he left.
“[I] don’t understand how I was the way I was to you … And I’m really sorry,” she continued. “I’ve never physically hurt anyone in my life I don’t know how I’ve done this for so long. I never knew I could be like this to someone. You didn’t deserve this Dakota. You’re a good man and I deserve all the pain I’m feeling.”
As she seemingly accepted the blame, Dakota reassured her, saying that he forgave her and knew she was hurting and struggling.
“I just wanted to show you how much I love you Taylor,” he said.
“I didn’t help you in [any way] to feel better and that’s on me,” he explained. “I should have been your safe place and allowed you to heal and be there for you.”
Dakota then encouraged Taylor against hurting herself more than she already had.
“Ahhh I think letting all the stuff go is letting all my stuff creep in as it should. I’m not angry anymore. I’m soooo sorry. I’m filled with GUILT,” Taylor responded. “I’m not good to you and I’ve been a horrible mom, thank you for trying to say otherwise. Ever has deserved so much better. I’ve been HORRIBLE with him around, and it’s all setting in. I want this pain I really do.”
“Guilty and she admits it … don’t think it’s reactive,” Cru added in a message across his post.
In a second post to Cru’s TikTok, Taylor was seen with Dakota as Cru insisted that Dakota wasn’t the one starting their fights.
“I dug back through the archive of videos and messages and found a few that perfectly illustrate what was happening, including evidence straight from Taylor’s own words,” Cru described. “Pay attention to what happens when Dakota clearly tells Taylor that, right before this video started, she had been beating the crap out of him. Taylor doesn’t deny it. She doesn’t say he’s wrong. She doesn’t say it didn’t happen. She doesn’t claim he was beating her too. Her silence speaks volumes.”
Cru went on to allege that Taylor’s fists were tightening and her body was getting tense because she couldn’t “hit him” since she was being filmed.
“You can see the frustration that her hands can’t do what they want to do in those moments,” he wrote.
“Finally, watch who is actually advancing the confrontation. Dakota tries to retreat with Ever. Taylor is the one who comes back into the room. Taylor is the one who continues moving toward him, even though she can clearly see he’s holding their baby,” Cru continued. “Please stop posting about me taylor especially after you sent a cease and desist to me. I’m willing to take it behind the social media but everytime you mention me or post about me I will continue to show the truth…because quite frankly the courts are turning a blind eye but the public needs to know everything if you’re gonna try to ruin everybody’s lives publicly. This behavior in front of the kids is uncalled for and creates trauma.”
In the clip Cru posted, Taylor is seen walking into her bedroom as Dakota declares, “Here she comes again! Let’s see it!”
“Why are you filming Dakota? This is real! Why are you doing this?” she asks, falling to the ground in tears.
“What about the 120th time you’ve beat me up and have never done anything?” Dakota wonders.
“Why are you filming me?” Taylor presses.
“Because now you know you can get caught!” Dakota explains.
As Taylor begs Dakota to stop filming and asks who he’s going to show the video to, he accuses her of abusing him and vows he will never “get in trouble for anything ever again.”
@crueatonEveryone is so concerned and so focused on what must have been happening before the videos started. You guys do understand that Dakota doesn’t start these fights, so he has no way of knowing when he needs to be recording them, correct? I dug back through the archive of videos and messages and found a few that perfectly illustrate what was happening, including evidence straight from Taylor’s own words. Pay attention to what happens when Dakota clearly tells Taylor that, right before this video started, she had been beating the crap out of him. Taylor doesn’t deny it. She doesn’t say he’s wrong. She doesn’t say it didn’t happen. She doesn’t claim he was beating her too. Her silence speaks volumes. Then watch her hands every time she realizes she’s being recorded and can’t hit him. Her fists tighten, her body tenses, and you can see the frustration that her hands can’t do what they want to do in those moments. Finally, watch who is actually advancing the confrontation. Dakota tries to retreat with Ever. Taylor is the one who comes back into the room. Taylor is the one who continues moving toward him, even though she can clearly see he’s holding their baby. Please stop posting about me taylor especially after you sent a cease and desist to me. I’m willing to take it behind the social media but everytime you mention me or post about me I will continue to show the truth…because quite frankly the courts are turning a blind eye but the public needs to know everything if you’re gonna try to ruin everybody’s lives publicly. This behavior in front of the kids is uncalled for and creates trauma.♬ original sound – crueaton
Following the sharing of Cru’s posts, Taylor reacted with a statement on her Instagram Story.
“I better hop off the internet before I say something I WON’T regret … There’s a huge difference between accountability and cruelty … Releasing a video of a woman who is so clearly freshly postpartum isn’t accountability. It’s CRUEL. Anyone who’s been postpartum can see it. She doesn’t need the internet preserving one of the hardest, most vulnerable seasons of her life to weaponize against her forever. I CANNOT. That draws a line,” she wrote. “Whether you like her or not is irrelevant. This should piss off every woman in America.”
Although Cru’s actions were made in an effort to turn people against Taylor, many of his followers were put off by his sharing of the video, especially.
“This just made me on Taylor’s side,” one person wrote.
“You just proved Taylor right with this video,” shared another.
“Watching this knowing she is postpartum breaks my heart,” another agreed.
Then, after someone else pointed out that Dakota was “narrating the entire interaction,” another commenter suspected that Cru’s posts were Dakota’s way of clapping back after being called out at this week’s custody hearing.