A group of TikTok content creators mainly comprised of Mormon mothers made headlines earlier this summer when they went viral over a swinging scandal—now one of the moms has sparked a debate on social media for making a dancing video about her custody battle.
Taylor Frankie Paul went viral in May when she announced she was divorcing her husband Tate Paul, which sent rumors that the couple was part of a Mormon swingers community into overdrive.
The 28-year-old influencer took to Instagram to announce the divorce in May, writing: "The last eight days have been the most pain I've ever felt in my life. Been grieving and mourning with family and friends the loss of my family not being together anymore. Tate and I are divorcing, however, I always love him deeply, however it's what's best for us. Long painful road ahead but I'm hopeful it goes up from here."
The couple shares two young children and this week Paul took to TikTok to answer some questions about the divorce.
In one video, when discussing their custody agreement, Paul punctuates the explanation with a typical TikTok-style dance.
"3 days on 3 days off," Paul wrote on the clip which features her cheerfully busting some moves in her living room.
@taylorfrankiepaul Reply to @wood_inthe_hood ♬ timeXkashy challenge - @PAPPiKASHY
"Both 50/50 split," she continues while finishing the energetic dance routine.
She captioned the post: "in the learning process of what works."
This format of discussing a divorce and custody arrangement has sparked a debate on social media, with many TikTok, Twitter and Reddit users criticizing Paul's rather flippant way of discussing a serious topic.
"not taylor frankie paul aka the mormon swinger tiktok mom posting her shaking her ass while posting the custody arrangements for her kid(s???) 😭😭 like girl WHAT," reads one tweet.
While another Twitter user added: "Taylor Frankie Paul twerking to the terms of her custody agreement on Tik Tok really represents where we are at as a country just laugh through the misery."
On TikTok, another creator Madison Gurdak mocked Paul by making a parody version of her dancing video.
@madgurd #stitch with @taylorfrankiepaul ♬ original sound - Madison Gurdak
"I think this should be used to deliver all bad news," joked one commentator.
While another added: "Hahahahaha!! Honestly, I wish my parents had of told me like this... a lot less traumatic."
Paul address the backlash in a later TikTok in which she mimed the "I'm a cool mom" speech from Mean Girls.
@taylorfrankiepaul Replying to @kyleeeodell ♬ IM NOT A REGULAR MOM. IM A COOL MOM. - emma
Paul's divorce comes in the aftermath of the swinging scandal that rocked MomTok after she alleged during a live TikTok session that she and select friends and their partners had been engaging in "soft swap swinging."
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