Dakota Mortensen, the boyfriend of TikTok star Taylor Frankie Paul, is speaking out and addressing criticism thrown his way after she was arrested and charged with domestic violence and child abuse.
Paul, a Mormon social media influencer and part of the #MomTok community with more than 4 million followers, was charged Tuesday with two felony counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, one felony count of aggravated assault and one misdemeanor count of child abuse and criminal mischief, after she was arrested mid-February in Utah.
She stands accused of hitting Mortensen, as well as throwing barstools at him — one of which allegedly hit her daughter.
On Tuesday, the same day she was officially charged by police, Mortensen took to his TikTok page — which boasts around 330K followers himself — to clear up some apparent backlash and/or speculation that came his way in the wake of Paul’s arrest.
“Just a few things I wanted to talk about because I can’t take anymore, it’s pissing me off so bad,” he began, before saying he’s “never made a dollar” for his videos on the social media platform. “
“I don’t do any of this s— and expect to make money. If I could, great. Obviously, that’s the end game goal, that would be amazing, who wouldn’t want that? But I’ve never made a dollar from doing any of this,” he said. “I just enjoy doing it and I’ve done it forever. I’ve done this for a long time and I’ll continue to do it.”
Saying that he’s “never been in this position” before, Mortensen went on to deny any speculation he was paid to speak with reporters about the arrest, after he spoke with the Daily Mail last week. He said the reporter “randomly called” him and, at the time, was just “trying to be respectful” and “just be nice.”
“But I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I would never in a million years do anything for money, especially when it deals with Taylor and her family and kids,” he continued. “I just wouldn’t. I know my character and it sucks I even have to say this, but I never would do that.”
Mortensen said the whole situation “just sucks,” before going on to offer up some praise to Paul as a mother. Taylor is mom to daughter Indy, 5, and son Ocean, 2, who she shares with her ex husband Tate Paul and who were both reportedly home at the time of the altercation.
“If there’s one thing I know and I will proudly say that, she’s an incredible mom and she loves her kids so much,” he said. “Obviously, you guys all can assume the worst of everything, because that’s all you guys do. But I’ve seen it and I just know.”
“I will be there for her. But I’m a recovering addict, rock bottom is where I’ve been many times in my life and I wish that I had people that I loved at those times that left and walked away from me,” he continued. “I’m not going to do that to her. I will be there for her and help her any way I can.”
Mortensen reiterated that “this whole thing sucks,” before referring to “everybody just twisting the stories and making up assumptions.” After thanking his supporters, he then concluded, “For everybody that sucks ass, I don’t really care, you guys will just continue to fill my feed and comments full of stupid s—.”
Per the probable cause statement, Paul began hitting Mortensen when he tried to leave during an argument. Video from the incident allegedly shows the influencer throwing barstools at Mortensen, hitting him with one which also hit her daughter. According to Page Six, the police report said the girl sustained a bump on her head — with authorities calling it a “goose egg” — while the chairs reportedly left holes in the walls.
Taylor was allegedly seen putting Mortensen in a chokehold and kicking him in the footage, while he claimed she also threw her phone and a wooden playset at him, which also damaged his car.
Paul’s next court date is set for March 21.
Taylor first made headlines back in May 2022, when she claimed on TikTok that she and her ex-husband were part of a “soft swinging” community — meaning they had an open marriage but would stop short of having penetrative sex with other people. The arrangement went sour, however, after she claimed to have gone too far with someone else in their community … and some parties involved “developed feelings.”
“We had an agreement and I did step out of that agreement and that’s where I messed up,” she shared on an Instagram Live last year. “No one was innocent, everyone has hooked up with everyone in this situation. It wasn’t like I was going around hooking up with my friend’s husband.”
“We were at a party, I got belligerent and we went and messed up with ourselves, rather with the whole group,” she added. “One time. It was a one time thing.”
She said the incident led to two divorces in their friend group, including her own.
Paul and Mortensen — who are both active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — went public with their relationship in July, before they revealed in November that she suffered an ectopic pregnancy. The pair split in December, but were spotted back together in January.
Their last post together was on February 12, just days before the arrest.
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