- Mormon MomToker Taylor Frankie Paul said she and her husband were in a "soft swinging" group in May.
- Paul's announcement created a high-profile controversy on MomTok.
Taylor Frankie Paul, known as @taylorfrankiepaul to 3.6 million TikTok followers, sparked controversy this spring when she revealed her divorce was related to her and her husband's involvement in a "soft swinging" community among her Mormon #MomTok friend community. In a new video, Paul said she's "really struggling" in the aftermath.
Paul announced the end of her marriage during a May 25 TikTok live stream in which she told viewers she and her husband Tate Paul were in an open marriage and occasionally invited other people from their "soft swinging" friend group into their relationship.
Soft swinging, per Paul's description, meant that the friend group could be sexually intimate with each other, but agreed not to go "all the way" with anyone other than their spouse. During the live stream, Paul implied that she slept with another community member without her husband's consent and then developed feelings for that person.
The controversy quickly engulfed Mormon mom TikTok, or MomTok, with many speculating which of Paul's Mormon friend group was involved with the "soft-swinging" group. Several of Paul's friends denied involvement in the group.
Recently, Paul has shared details about the divorce and the fallout with her friends on her TikTok account. In an August 11 video, she responded to a comment that read "I really wanna know how she is when the camera is off... I feel bad because I'm pretty sure she's so depressed and tries to stay happy... not gonna lie."
"I'm f------ sad" Paul said in the TikTok. "I actually texted one of my doctors today asking if I can go on some anti-anxiety, depression meds because I am really, really struggling. I'm actually almost down to 90 pounds, which is extremely unhealthy for my height and age."
"I feel like a lost soul," she continued. "... I give myself an hour to mentally break down — cry, laugh, whatever it is that's going to make me feel the feelings — because I just want to feel it so I can move on," she told viewers.
Paul went on to say that she'd lost some of her closest friends amid the divorce and scandal.
"I don't know if this is just the process of it — the process of divorce, major loss, loss of my best friends," she said. "I got betrayed. I betrayed someone. There's just so much in the mix and behind the scenes that people don't know, won't ever know, didn't see. And, so yeah, I am struggling."
@taylorfrankiepaul Replying to @deenacharley ♬ original sound - Taylor Paul
Despite struggling, Paul said, "I can't take a break off social media because I have some big opportunities coming, and I am contracted in certain things, so I am just not doing that right now."
"This is my outlet. I choose to stay on. As you can see, I am an emotional wreck on here," Paul continued, "and that's why I think it's so entertaining because these are my raw emotions. This is my real life falling apart."
Taylor Frankie Paul did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
In July, Paul appeared to introduce her new boyfriend, Dakota Mortenson, to her TikTok followers. Mortenson, Paul was quick to clarify, was not involved in her soft-swinging scandal. But within days of revealing him, she seemed to allude to relationship drama and said in a message on one of Mortenson's TikToks that she was still single.
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