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Tag: mormon

  • How Taylor Frankie Paul, Once a Mormon Wife, Became a ‘Bachelorette’ With a Not-So-Secret Life

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    “I sometimes question, have I made any progress?” Taylor Frankie Paul, who in just three short years leapt from being the leader of #MomTok on Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to the single lead of ABC’s The Bachelorette, asks Vanity Fair. “We’re humans, we make mistakes; and I feel like I do [make] a lot of different mistakes. That’s what life’s about—it’s trial and error. I’m learning different lessons now in this phase of my life.”

    Paul’s latest chapter plays out on season three of the wildly popular Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which reveals that while promoting the show’s second season this spring, Paul privately suffered personal betrayal involving on-again, off-again ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen, father of her one-year-old son, Ever True, and a close family friend. When I reach Paul, she’s in the backseat of a moving vehicle, being whisked from one mystery location to another for her turn on The Bachelorette. Paul can’t technically disclose that she’s not near home, but the palm trees peeking through the car’s back windows confirm: we’re not in Utah anymore.

    Since 2022, when Paul, now 31, revealed she was divorcing husband Tate (father of Paul’s daughter Indy and son Ocean, who do not appear on Mormon Wives), after she engaged in “soft swinging” (some heavy petting and emotional affairs, but no “full-on” sex) within their married friend group, she has been filming her life at a near-continuous pace.

    Before sending shockwaves through Utah’s #MomTok community, Paul already shared near-daily snippets of her more buttoned-up Mormon life with what eventually grew to 1.8 million Instagram and 5.8 million TikTok followers. When the first season of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives premiered last September, it launched the eight MomTokers, led by the headline-making Paul, to something approaching Housewives-level fame.

    “Sorry if I sound like I’m losing my voice, we’re getting over a little cold,” Paul rasps. The “we” another reminder that as the single mother of three who blew up her life, then made a reality show about it, is far from an obvious pick for ABC’s increasingly staid reality dating series—but more on that adventure later.

    Taylor Frankie Paul (center) catches up with her fellow #MomTok members Miranda McWhorter, Mikayla Matthews, and Mayci Neeley during Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season three.Fred Hayes

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    Savannah Walsh

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  • Dallin H. Oaks, Former Utah Supreme Court Justice, Is Selected To Lead Mormon Church – KXL

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    President Dallin H. Oaks, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, speaks during a morning session of the 195th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 4, 2025. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP, file)

    SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Dallin H. Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice, was named Tuesday as the new president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its more than 17 million members worldwide.

    Oaks’ selection to lead what is widely known as the Mormon church follows the recent death of his 101-year-old predecessor, Russell M. Nelson. His ascension is not a surprise; a longstanding church policy says the longest-tenured member of a top leadership body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes the next president. The tradition is meant to ensure a seamless transition and prevent internal or public lobbying.

    “I accept with humility the responsibility that God has place upon me and commit my whole heart and soul to the service to which I’ve been called,” Oaks said.

    As president, Oaks is considered a prophet and seer who will guide the church through divine revelation from God alongside two top counselors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve. He’ll set policy and oversee the church’s many business interests.

    The church’s leadership transition comes as many of its members have been shaken by a deadly attack on a Michigan congregation, and are grappling with the high-profile assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, where the denomination is based.

    At 93, Oaks will be one of the church’s oldest presidents. He will serve in the role until he dies. Tenures for past presidents have varied, with the longest reaching nearly 30 years and the shortest being just nine months.

    Experts are doubtful Oaks will pivot sharply from Nelson’s approach to leadership because he was one of Nelson’s closest advisers. But experts say Oaks might shift from Nelson’s focus on the faith’s global footprint to domestic issues.

    For his top counselors, Oaks selected Henry B. Eyring, who also served in that role for Nelson, and former lawyer D. Todd Christofferson, the church’s seventh most senior apostle.

    While serving on a lower leadership panel in the 1990s, Christofferson was involved in negotiations with Jewish leaders regarding the posthumous baptisms of Holocaust victims. In 1994, following intense criticism from the Jewish community, the church agreed to end the ceremonial baptism of Holocaust victims. After it was revealed that they continued, church leaders again spoke out against the practice in 2012.

    “I confess that this is not what I expected when I woke up this morning,” Christofferson said during Tuesday’s announcement. “But I am deeply honored by this calling and the trust that it carries.”

    In the first major difference from Nelson’s presidency, Oaks announced during the faith’s recent general conference that the church will slow the announcement of new temples.

    He also emphasized the importance of family while acknowledging that not all families look the same. In a departure from his typical sermons, which often appeal more to reason than emotion, Oaks shared a story about the day his grandfather told him at age 7 that his father had died. He went on to describe the value of being raised by a single mother and others who stepped into parental roles for him and his siblings.

    Oaks is known for his jurist sensibilities and traditionalist beliefs on marriage and religious freedom. He has been a driving force in the church against same-sex marriage and in upholding a teaching that homosexuality is a sin — a position that causes uneasiness among LGBTQ+ members and their allies.

    He said in 2022 that social and legal pressure would not influence the church to change its posture on same-sex marriage and matters of gender identity.

    Yet in recent years, Oaks has been part of some key church moves that suggest he might not make the topic a centerpiece of his administration, experts say. Oaks was Nelson’s closest adviser in 2019 when Nelson rescinded a policy that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and labeled same-sex couples as sinners eligible for expulsion.

    Oaks has also been a strong advocate for civil public discourse.

    Early on as an apostle, he was involved in a crackdown on far-right extremism that resulted in some excommunications. In 2020, he gave a speech about having faith in elections without resorting to radicalism or violence.

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    Jordan Vawter

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  • Friends of Michigan church shooting suspect say he long carried hatred toward Mormon faith

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    The man who opened fire in a Michigan church and killed four people while setting it ablaze long harbored hatred toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to longtime friends, and told a stranger who showed up at his door days before that attack that Mormons were the “Antichrist.” The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, began making those sentiments known years ago following his return from Utah, where he dated but later broke up with a girlfriend who was a member of the Mormon faith, two childhood friends said Tuesday. Sanford had moved to Utah after leaving the Marines and told his friends he had become addicted to methamphetamines.No longer the happy-go-lucky kid who was voted class clown of their graduating class, Sanford routinely spouted off about his grievances against the church, his friends said. The first time they heard it was at a wedding 13 years ago.”We were like, ‘Come on, we don’t want to hear this,’” said Bobby Kalush, who grew up down the road from Sanford. “When he came back from Utah, he was a completely different person.”Just six days before Sunday’s attack, those grudges were still boiling at the surface, said Kris Johns, a city council candidate who described a bizarre brush with Sanford while door-knocking for his campaign.The two were speaking at Sanford’s home in Burton about gun rights when Sanford physically leaned in, Johns said, and asked, “What do you know about Mormons?”For close to 15 minutes, Sanford spoke in controlled and calm tones about the Mormon faith, saying he was concerned about their beliefs while expressing that he was a Christian. Sanford then said he believed that Mormons are the “Antichrist,” according to Johns.”That’s something I’ll never forget,” he said.Police have released very few details about Sanford, who died after being shot by officers, and have refused to discuss what might have motivated the attack at the church, which was reduced to rubble in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles north of Detroit.On Tuesday, Sanford’s family released a statement through a lawyer, expressing condolences. “No words can adequately convey our sorrow for the victims and their families,” they said. Sanford served four years in the Marine Corps after enlisting in 2004 and deployed once to Iraq for seven months, according to military records. His commander during the deployment, David Hochheimer, said the unit never saw combat or incoming fire. “It was a relatively quiet time,” he said on Tuesday.Sanford moved to Utah shortly after leaving the military. His friends said they noticed a change after he moved back home, thinking his battle with addiction was to blame. Kalush said his friend was no longer the “short, stocky ball of energy” who once bought dozens of flowers to give out to girls before the homecoming dance.Around bonfires with friends, it wasn’t unusual for Sanford to start talking about how Mormons were going to take over, said Frances Tersigni, who along with his twin brother was among Sanford’s best friends.”It was just so random. It was like, ‘Why Mormons dude?’” Tersigni said. “It’s hard to explain. We didn’t take it serious.” But there were no signs that he was a threat to anyone, Tersigni said. An avid hunter, Sanford was married now and raising a child at home.”He never once, never, said ‘I’ve got to do something,’” he said. “There’s a Jake we all knew, and there was one who was hidden. It wasn’t apparent to us.” Federal investigators remained at the church Tuesday as heavy machinery began moving debris from the church.Authorities have not yet released the names of the four people who died or the eight people — ages 6 to 78 — who were wounded and expected to survive. Among the wounded were a father and his young son, according to a GoFundMe post.One of those who died was being remembered as a grandfather who adored spending time with his family. John Bond, a Navy veteran, was well-known in the community and loved golfing and trains, according to friends organizing fundraising for the family.Another victim was identified online by family as Pat Howard.”Uncle Pat was so many things. … In my mind I see him mid conversation, his eyebrows raised, his eyes bright and a smile just starting to show,” niece Maureen Seliger said on Facebook. Jeffrey Schaub, bishop of the Grand Blanc church, said in a video posted Monday that the attack has left the community reeling.”As you can expect, our members are quite shaken in spirit and in body,” he said. “And it hurts.”There has been an outpouring of support from different faith communities, he said. “It was very humbling to see how much good there is in the world today and that, above all, we are all children of the same Father in heaven,” he said, with a tremor in his voice.Sanford drove his truck into the church’s brick wall while members were gathered inside Sunday morning. He apparently used gas to start the fire and also had explosive devices, said James Dier of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.Flames and smoke poured from the church for hours after the attack.Jerry Eaton, 78, who lives across the street, sheltered seven people who fled the church, including a mother with her four young children. He was watching television when he heard the shooting.”I’ve done a lot of hunting, so I know the sound of gunfire,” he said. “As much as I didn’t want to believe it, that’s exactly what it sounded like.” White reported from Detroit. Associated Press reporter John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

    GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. —

    The man who opened fire in a Michigan church and killed four people while setting it ablaze long harbored hatred toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to longtime friends, and told a stranger who showed up at his door days before that attack that Mormons were the “Antichrist.”

    The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, began making those sentiments known years ago following his return from Utah, where he dated but later broke up with a girlfriend who was a member of the Mormon faith, two childhood friends said Tuesday. Sanford had moved to Utah after leaving the Marines and told his friends he had become addicted to methamphetamines.

    No longer the happy-go-lucky kid who was voted class clown of their graduating class, Sanford routinely spouted off about his grievances against the church, his friends said. The first time they heard it was at a wedding 13 years ago.

    “We were like, ‘Come on, we don’t want to hear this,’” said Bobby Kalush, who grew up down the road from Sanford. “When he came back from Utah, he was a completely different person.”

    Just six days before Sunday’s attack, those grudges were still boiling at the surface, said Kris Johns, a city council candidate who described a bizarre brush with Sanford while door-knocking for his campaign.

    The two were speaking at Sanford’s home in Burton about gun rights when Sanford physically leaned in, Johns said, and asked, “What do you know about Mormons?”

    For close to 15 minutes, Sanford spoke in controlled and calm tones about the Mormon faith, saying he was concerned about their beliefs while expressing that he was a Christian. Sanford then said he believed that Mormons are the “Antichrist,” according to Johns.

    “That’s something I’ll never forget,” he said.

    Police have released very few details about Sanford, who died after being shot by officers, and have refused to discuss what might have motivated the attack at the church, which was reduced to rubble in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles north of Detroit.

    On Tuesday, Sanford’s family released a statement through a lawyer, expressing condolences. “No words can adequately convey our sorrow for the victims and their families,” they said.

    Sanford served four years in the Marine Corps after enlisting in 2004 and deployed once to Iraq for seven months, according to military records. His commander during the deployment, David Hochheimer, said the unit never saw combat or incoming fire. “It was a relatively quiet time,” he said on Tuesday.

    Sanford moved to Utah shortly after leaving the military. His friends said they noticed a change after he moved back home, thinking his battle with addiction was to blame. Kalush said his friend was no longer the “short, stocky ball of energy” who once bought dozens of flowers to give out to girls before the homecoming dance.

    Around bonfires with friends, it wasn’t unusual for Sanford to start talking about how Mormons were going to take over, said Frances Tersigni, who along with his twin brother was among Sanford’s best friends.

    “It was just so random. It was like, ‘Why Mormons dude?’” Tersigni said. “It’s hard to explain. We didn’t take it serious.”

    But there were no signs that he was a threat to anyone, Tersigni said. An avid hunter, Sanford was married now and raising a child at home.

    “He never once, never, said ‘I’ve got to do something,’” he said. “There’s a Jake we all knew, and there was one who was hidden. It wasn’t apparent to us.”

    Federal investigators remained at the church Tuesday as heavy machinery began moving debris from the church.

    Authorities have not yet released the names of the four people who died or the eight people — ages 6 to 78 — who were wounded and expected to survive. Among the wounded were a father and his young son, according to a GoFundMe post.

    One of those who died was being remembered as a grandfather who adored spending time with his family. John Bond, a Navy veteran, was well-known in the community and loved golfing and trains, according to friends organizing fundraising for the family.

    Another victim was identified online by family as Pat Howard.

    “Uncle Pat was so many things. … In my mind I see him mid conversation, his eyebrows raised, his eyes bright and a smile just starting to show,” niece Maureen Seliger said on Facebook.

    Jeffrey Schaub, bishop of the Grand Blanc church, said in a video posted Monday that the attack has left the community reeling.

    “As you can expect, our members are quite shaken in spirit and in body,” he said. “And it hurts.”

    There has been an outpouring of support from different faith communities, he said. “It was very humbling to see how much good there is in the world today and that, above all, we are all children of the same Father in heaven,” he said, with a tremor in his voice.

    Sanford drove his truck into the church’s brick wall while members were gathered inside Sunday morning. He apparently used gas to start the fire and also had explosive devices, said James Dier of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    Flames and smoke poured from the church for hours after the attack.

    Jerry Eaton, 78, who lives across the street, sheltered seven people who fled the church, including a mother with her four young children. He was watching television when he heard the shooting.

    “I’ve done a lot of hunting, so I know the sound of gunfire,” he said. “As much as I didn’t want to believe it, that’s exactly what it sounded like.”

    White reported from Detroit. Associated Press reporter John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

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  • Fact-checking claims about Michigan shooter’s politics

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    After an armed gunman drove a pickup truck into a Michigan church, opened fire on worshipers and set the church ablaze, people online rushed to find clues about the attacker’s politics.

    Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, Michigan, was a former U.S. Marine and Iraq War veteran. His Sept. 28 ambush on the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in Grand Blanc Township left four people dead and eight wounded. He died in an exchange of gunfire with police.

    Law enforcement officials said in a Sept. 29 press conference they are investigating the attack as “an act of targeted violence,” but shared no more details about Sanford’s motive. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Sanford “hated people of the Mormon faith.” 

    In the absence of information, people online sought to assign political blame —a common trend at a time of heightened political polarization and violence.

    “We’re learning the shooter of the church in Michigan has been a Trump hater at least since 2015! More left-wing violence!” one user posted Sept. 28 on X. Others said the opposite: “Yesterday’s Michigan Shooter was MAGA Supporter Thomas Jacob Sanford.”

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    Michigan does not register voters by party affiliation and has open primaries, which means Sanford’s voting history doesn’t shed light on his political views. 

    Sanford had been photographed years ago wearing a T-shirt in support of President Donald Trump, but early reporting left unanswered whether politics played a role in the attack at all. 

    Friends of Sanford’s told The New York Times that Sanford had become more serious after serving in Iraq and had developed animosity toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following a painful breakup with a Mormon woman.

    Burton City Council candidate Kris Johns told the Detroit Free Press he had a conversation with Sanford about a week before the attack during which Sanford expressed negative views about the Mormon faith.

    Social media users pointed to clues — some real, others fake — to try to support their hunches about the shooter’s political leanings.  

    We examined some of them. 

    Google Maps images show a Trump campaign sign at Sanford’s address

    Some people pointed to a June 2025 Google Maps streetview image of Sanford’s home that shows a Trump campaign sign tucked above a stop sign on a wooden fence next to his house. It is not clear whether the sign says “Trump/Vance” or “Trump/Pence.” 

    (Google Maps image captured June 2025)

    Some online users argued the political sign’s placement near a stop sign signaled opposition to Trump. 

    None of the earlier Google Maps captures of the same address in 2022, 2021, 2019 or 2017 show any campaign signs on the property. 

    Property records show that Sanford purchased the home in 2016. 

    Facebook photo shows Sanford wearing “Trump 2020” shirt

    Some users surfaced a family photo of Sanford with his wife and child that showed him wearing a camouflage short-sleeved shirt with a pro-Trump 2020 campaign message. The photo, which remained publicly accessible on Sept. 30, was posted in 2019 to a Facebook page dedicated to documenting his child’s struggles with chronic illness. 


    (Screenshot of Facebook post)

    Some online users said the image is photoshopped, and that the original image was a plain camouflage shirt, but we found no evidence of that. 

    Political donations and “socialist” X account are from different people named Thomas Sanford

    Other accounts shared screenshots they said showed Sanford had donated to Democrats. “Thomas Jacob Sanford donated to Act Blue regularly,” one X account said, attaching screenshots of the Federal Election Commission donor lookup database that tracks political donations.

    But the screenshots showed donations from other people named Thomas Sanford, who listed their residences as Virginia, Idaho and Wisconsin.


    (Screenshot of X post)

    A person named Thomas Sanford in Rockwood, Michigan, who described himself as retired, made a number of small donations, all through the Republican fundraising platform, WinRed. Rockwood is more than an hour away from Burton.

    Other posts linked Sanford to an X account with a bio that read “Politically active Democratic Socialist, PROGRESSIVE, and proud UNION member.” But this person named Thomas Sanford from Wisconsin continued to post on the Blue Sky social media platform following the shooting and does not appear to be the same person.


    (Screenshot of X post)

    PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report

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  • Why ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Star Taylor Frankie Paul as ‘Bachelorette’ Is a Franchise-Saving Move

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    That leads us to the shrewd bit of cross-pollination happening for ABC and Hulu, owned by the same parent company in Disney. After testing the waters with a Mormon Wives crossover on Hulu’s Vanderpump Villa earlier this year, then casting not one, but two cast members for Dancing With the Stars, the burgeoning reality television universe will triple dip by casting Paul as Bachelorette. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season three returns on November 13 and The Bachelorette is slated for a 2026 debut. This shores up the streaming-first Mormon Wives audience, helping to lure key viewership demographics back to the brand’s broadcast offerings. And that transfer can’t come soon enough: The premiere episode of Bachelor in Paradise season 10 earned roughly 3.2 million fewer viewers than season two of Mormon Wives, both of which aired this year.

    Those in the know have long been calling for the outsourcing of leads. “They should take any single guy from Love Island season seven—he’s the next Bachelor,” Chad Kultgen, cohost of popular Bachelor podcast Game of Roses and coauthor of How to Win the Bachelor, told Vanity Fair earlier this year. “They have done the work for you, made these people superstars in the reality dating TV format. That’s how they should be thinking.”

    The powers that be, including newly instated showrunner Scott Teti, former executive producer of Bravo’s Summer House, appear to have been listening. Before Taylor was announced as the next Bachelorette, fans originally believed the news would reveal the lead of The Bachelor’s landmark 30th season due to scheduling. Previously, The Bachelorette aired in the spring or summer, followed by Paradise, then The Bachelor in January. The franchise last cast a lead from outside of its pool of Instagrammable suitors for season 25 in Matt James, who became the first-ever Black Bachelor. Although, he was best known on social media as a close friend of The Bachelorette runner-up Tyler Cameron.

    Even the manner in which Taylor was announced feels fresh. This is the first time a lead hasn’t been announced on an ABC-affiliated platform like Good Morning America or an After the Final Rose special. Cooper as conduit for such news feels like acknowledgment that a young female audience tunes into her podcast—and that the podcasting realm itself is key to sustaining The Bachelor’s relevance. Further proof: Former Bachelor Nick Viall, host of the popular Viall Files podcast, hosted the season two Mormon Wives reunion. And the last Paradise reunion was not filmed on an ABC soundstage, but recorded for the official Bachelor Happy Hour podcast.

    There will be inevitable growing pains with such a shake-up—the ABC audience has previously been less forgiving of unapologetic women—and Paul has already said that she’ll require any husband of hers to relocate to Utah. (Hope he has his Swig order down!) But this only further stokes the intrigue that comes with casting Paul—who is well-versed in making must-see TV. “The more open you are, the more backlash you can get,” she told VF in May, “but also the more relatable you are.”

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    Savannah Walsh

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  • Do You Believe? Utah Whitneys Want to Know.

    Do You Believe? Utah Whitneys Want to Know.

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    Photo: Atessa Moghimi (A24)./A24

    Modern-horror cinema’s most heterodox event took place on Saturday night, when two blonde Whitneys and A24 hosted dueling screenings at a multiplex within the southernmost border of Salt Lake City proper. The film was Heretic, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, about two Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), who knock on the door of a suburban Colorado house one inclement afternoon hoping to baptize the homeowner, Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), into their faith.

    Within a makeshift chapel behind locked doors, Mr. Reed lectures the missionaries on Radiohead’s litigious copywriting strategy; Monopoly and its unsung predecessor, The Landlord’s Game; and bird-headed deities until coercing the young women to choose their escape from his house of escalating horrors either through a door marked “DISBELIEF” or one alongside it marked “BELIEF.” (Spoiler: Neither presents an easy egress.) 

    Inside this packed cineplex, the screening’s snaking line was filled with only the truest disciples of horror film and/or Utah-based reality television. Some people I spoke to had been invited to the event by A24 directly, including members of the Lost & Found Club, a women- and genderqueer-led 501(c)(3) that aims to bring community to people who have left the LDS church in young adulthood. But most people waiting in the standby line for tickets had to rely on faith alone that they’d make it to that celestial kingdom of a screening room and experience the rapture of an A24 film presented by a woman named Whitney (with a complimentary free small popcorn and small fountain drink).

    The event’s whole shtick played off the confrontational, dueling doors that have been the centerpiece of the film’s marketing: If an attendee was handed a DISBELIEF ticket, they attended the screening hosted by Whitney Rose, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member who was raised in the church but has since left it. If they got a BELIEF ticket, then they went to the screening hosted by Whitney Leavitt, a practicing Mormon and cast member of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

    The LDS church has expressed concern about Heretic as its November 8 release nears, which is also the date on which the film takes place. In a statement provided to the Mormon-run newspaper Deseret News, church spokesperson Doug Anderson said, “Heretic portrays the graphically violent treatment of women, including people of faith, and those who provide volunteer service to their communities. Any narrative that promotes violence against women because of their faith or undermines the contributions of volunteers runs counter to the safety and well-being of our communities.”

    I hear what the church is saying about violence against women — Heretic has a scene involving an elderly woman’s arthritic fingers and a blueberry pie that is, while slightly less depraved than Call Me by Your Name’s sequence with Timmy Chalamet and a peach, far more psychically scarring than the hand scene in A24’s Talk to Me. For what it’s worth, I didn’t find Heretic anti-Mormon. If anything, the film was overwhelmingly anti-smug British guy.

    Rose, who later told me that she was channeling her “inner missionary, Sister Rose,” wore a gray tweed short skirt/long jacket combo with a sheer turtleneck; a “Sword of the Spirit” necklace from her jewelry line, Prism, and a pair of Louboutins. Leavitt, who was one-week postpartum, wore a 1980s Jessica McClintock–inspired minidress from Asos. Her teeny-tiny, adorable one-week-old son, Billy Gene, and her husband/at-home scene partner, Conner Leavitt, watched her admiringly from across the room.

    Each woman had a designated theater to introduce the film, and right before, Rose invited me and my plus-one to join her for a shot of tequila to calm her nerves. (It was Casamigos, not her co-star/usual rival Lisa Barlow’s Vida brand, and I love drama more than I hate heartburn.) Before we knocked it back, Rose called out for Leavitt and anyone else interested to join us for a toast. Leavitt waved Rose off, but did spend time with her Mormon Wives co-star/fellow saint Jennifer Affleck and her husband, Zac, had showed up in the spare theater being used as a greenroom, and they were busy cooing over the new baby. Later, the internet told me that most of Leavitt’s castmates had been at a Sabrina Carpenter concert that night without her.

    In a joint interview before the screening, I spoke to both Whitneys about their reactions to the film and the proliferation of content about Utah women in the last few years. BELIEF and DISBELIEF embodied with bobs, sitting right next to each other in reclining theater chairs.

    So, first of all, I just want to know how your involvement with this event came to be. Online, on Reddit, and elsewhere, this screening became a must-attend event shrouded in secrecy. 

    Whitney Leavitt: Did it really?

    Yes. People didn’t even know how to get tickets and were apparently calling the movie theater, getting nowhere. How did it all come together? 

    Whitney Rose: I just got a call from a friend who said, “Can I have a friend reach out to your agent? Someone at A24 is a big fan of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. It was intense because I posted about the screening and shared the tag from A24, and all of a sudden, my DMs, my text messages, and my emails were blowing up with everyone wanting tickets.

    There’s something happening nationally right now where Utah is blowing up — not as a state but as a concept. And there’s something A24-ish about our fascination. Why are people looking at women in Utah with such fascination?

    Leavitt: I think it’s a lot of things besides our religion that happens culturally in Utah. Like, we’ve got our soda drinks. Yeah, we’ve got our “Utah Curl.” I don’t know if you’ve heard about it.

    Wait, I don’t know the Utah Curl. 

    Leavitt: The Utah Curl: It’s a specific curl that Utah girlies have.

    Rose: And I love all of your castmates a lot, but I despise the Utah Curl. You gotta curl your hair to the end.

    Leavitt: Or get a bob!

    I’ll say this. I couldn’t tell any of your Mormon Wives castmates on the show apart until about four episodes in. Besides you, Whitney. Because they all had that same hair. All gorgeous women, to be sure, of course …

    Leavitt: It’s a very trendy look. I think people were fascinated that we all looked a certain way, dressed a certain way, ate a certain way, and drank a certain way. But then, obviously, people were fascinated by the religion side of it too. And I also do appreciate both of our shows presenting a different perspective of the Mormon religion. Because I just feel like, worldwide, everyone thinks of Mormons in a certain way, right? But then you get to see a different side.

    Rose: I echo everything Whitney says. When you hear about Mormonism, your mind instantly goes to all of the things that they practiced in the past, like polygamy and multiple wives. Mormonism in and of itself, from the outside, looks strange. But when I was living in it, I didn’t view it that way. It’s just so normal to us, especially growing up here in Utah, right? Whitney and I grew up in what’s called “the bubble” of Utah County, and it’s just that everyone is the same. We all think the same, act the same, and have the same friends. All the moms drive the same cars. I mean, Mormon Wives shows that. They all have the same hair, except for Whit.

    Leavitt: The Utah Curl.

    Rose: Yeah, and I’m so glad that Whitney is paving the way there with her bob. It’s just fascinating when you have such a dense population of one religion and one culture. What people don’t realize is that there are so many different iterations and subcultures within that culture.

    Heretic has gotten a lot of pushback from the Mormon church. What is it so afraid of?

    Leavitt: Maybe they’re afraid of the filmmakers putting out false speculation or false doctrines. But when I watched, there’s nothing doctrinal about the church in it. Of course, there are Mormon missionaries, but I appreciated Hugh Grant’s character just giving a perspective of religion in general.

    Rose: I think the fear is that there are a lot of things that we don’t talk about or are told not to talk about within the church, whether they be sacred or things that were once true in the past but are no longer true in modern revelation. They’re scared of what’s going to be in it and what that means for their members.

    For me, this is easier to talk about because I’m not a member. I’ve removed my name from the church records. It’s just exposure. It’s fear of the unknown; it’s lack of control over one’s own narrative. It’s the same fear I have being on reality TV: We just show up and watch our edits.

    It’s fascinating to see you two here together like this, talking about the same faith from such different perspectives. I consider RHSLC to be the wackiest comedy on TV. And some of the relationship plotlines on Mormon Wives are the most depressing television I’ve ever seen. It was often hard for me to watch. And now, I’m about to see a whole different take on the Mormon genre within a horror film. 

    Rose: The writers and directors are brilliant with their use of horror and psychological thrill. It’s a cat-and-mouse game of: What do I believe? Do I really not? Am I just doing this because I was told to? It’s fascinating. I watched it last night on my laptop, and I was like this the whole time:

    [Rose mimics raising her paws up to her chest height expectantly, the laying-in-bed-watching-movies equivalent of being on the edge of her seat.]

    I was going, “Oh my God, I relate to this!”

    You didn’t serve a mission, correct?

    Rose: No, I didn’t, but I channeled my inner missionary with my look tonight.

    There’s a saints-sinners binary going on at this event, which was also a big part of Mormon Wives. Growing up Mormon in Utah County, did you feel confined to that binary of either being a saint or a sinner? Organized religion leaves very little room for dabbling in 60 percent of one thing and 40 percent of the other.

    Rose: From my perspective, the black-and-white was really hard. By design, religion in Utah is the culture. I was raised here, and people would know if you weren’t wearing your garments, people saw you at Starbucks, and people would know if I was drinking a glass of wine at dinner. By design, I didn’t feel I could live in a gray area. Now, this was 17 years ago. A lot has changed. Even us just sitting here together with such polar-opposite perspectives — I think Utah has evolved. You can interpret religion with your relationship to God versus the institution of religion.

    You’ve explored this on your show for years. I’m sure you’re aware of the memes. I talked to a Brigham Young University linguist about your “hilling” journey and the “fill/feel” merger present in the speech of millennial women in Utah, and I’ve never gotten such a response from people before about anything I’ve written. 

    Rose: That was like my top moment of a Housewife. I’m no longer LDS, but I come from a long line of Mormon pioneers. My family trekked across the entire United States to get here. I get so bad with words.

    When the linguist at BYU [David Ellingson Eddington, professor emeritus of Linguistics] talked to you for that article, I was so proud. I was so validated. I feel so seen. Someone understands my dialect and the way I talk.

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    Claire Carusillo

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  • Mormons Make Great TV

    Mormons Make Great TV

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    As humans, we are deeply flawed. We will lie, cheat, and steal…but most of all, we’ll watch any sort of gruesome reality show because we crave drama that isn’t our own.

    Growing up, I remember my mom watching
    The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I knew about Lisa Vanderpump before Vanderpump Rules entered the chat. But I never understood her fascination with a bunch of women fighting on-screen…until I got older.

    Last year, I attended
    Summer House’s Danielle Olivera’s app launch party, where most of the cast was in attendance. After spending the night unknowingly surrounded by Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard (the night before the end of their engagement), Paige DeSorbo and Craig Conover, and more…I had to find out who the hell these people were.

    Now, at 26 years of age, I’ve pored through most of the Bravo catalog myself. I’ve caught up on
    Summer House, the majority of the Real Housewives franchises, and I was there for Scandoval.

    Reality TV has taken over since the Writer’s Strike brought show production to a grinding halt and it’s finally catching up to us. After a slow summer of barely any new scripted shows, it was time to fixate on reality.

    The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives aired on September 6 on Hulu. And at first glance, it seemed like a tell-all documentary about the horrors of Mormonism…but actually, it was a reality television show about crazy Mormon women who founded “#MomTok” on TikTok.

    Everyone’s watching, but honestly…this isn’t the finest Mormon television I’ve seen. If you’ve already watched
    The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and can’t get enough of the “Bad Mormons,” then here are a few shows that are just as shocking.

    The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City

    I think the real reason I wasn’t utterly shocked by
    The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives was because prepared for it by this show. Because, sure, there’s nothing scarier (I mean better) than a bunch of 20-something Mormon women making TikToks…until you’ve met a group of disgraced Mormon women double their age with double the drama.

    In terms of reality television this show has been through everything in only five seasons: Jen Shah, now imprisoned for fraud, Monica Garcia, who ran an anonymous gossip account about her fellow housewives, Meredith Marks, who has a strange Transatlantic accent…I could go on.

    Constant drama, mentions of Mormonism, and many quotable moments, this show makes
    The Secret Lives look like child’s play.

    Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey

    If you want more of a documentary (
    shockumentary?), then watch Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey on Netflix. All about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints cult that’s led by Warren S. Jeffs (from jail!), you’ll hear all about the male-dominated, polygamist group in this tell-all docu.

    The series documents the physical, psychological, and emotional abuse of young women in the FLDS, with a focus on the survivors who have safely escaped. There are mentions of child abuse, sexual assault, and more, so be cautious when viewing — this content may not be safe for everyone.

    However, if you want the dark truth about some sectors of the Latter Day Saints sect, this is a good start.

    Under The Banner Of Heaven

    A mixture of fact and fiction,
    Under The Banner Of Heaven stars Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones. It follows Detective Jeb Pyre as he investigates the murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her daughter in Salt Lake Valley. Along the way, Pyre (Garfield) starts to uncover the truth about the LDS religion.

    It’s one of Garfield’s best roles (and yes, I’ve seen his
    Spiderman) as he grapples with his faith while investigating a major murder. It blends fundamentalism, ethics, and the Mormonism in a way that has you questioning what’s real and what isn’t.

    Based on Jon Krakauer blockbuster of a novel, it’s a great fictional take on the FLDS that will have you binge watching the entire show in one night.

    Murder Among The Mormons

    Your classic true crime documentary:
    Murder Among The Mormons follows Mark Hofmann, one of the most notorious forgers in American history. In an almost unbelievable tale, the three part series combines a deep excavation of LDS and murder.

    Hofmann faked documents relating to the Latter Day Saints religion, including letters “from” Joseph Smith, Lucy Mack Smith, and David Whitmer. When Hofmann was close to getting caught, he set off three bombs across Salt Lake City, Utah to kill three people.

    It’s a bizarre tale that turns deadly, but is an easy binge watch for you and your friends.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • I Regret To Inform You That TikTok Found the Worst Lego Knockoffs | The Mary Sue

    I Regret To Inform You That TikTok Found the Worst Lego Knockoffs | The Mary Sue

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    As someone who didn’t grow up with money, I’m firmly pro-Lego knockoffs. In addition to their accessibility, other Lego-type materials have existed forever because people like to build things, including children. Also, Lego has become a brand like Google or Kleenex, where the word itself comes to reference many things that serve the same purpose. However, some things push the limits, and these knockoffs from the Mormon community are one such example.

    Before getting into why these are so awful and offensive, let’s start with the name of the company— Brick’em Young. I see the first vision, okay. The brand is named after Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. the LDS Church, a.k.a. the Mormon Church) and the most famous person associated with the religion. The former governor of the Utah territory is the reason the Mormon community grew into a large industry, and the state’s main (and infamous) university is named Brigham Young University (BYU).

    However, “brick” is also a verb used in relation to throwing a brick at someone or something, and more famously online in regards to a very erect penis and the sexual activities related to it. Now, why would you name a toy company aimed at kids “brick ’em young!” Do we see the problem here? Especially in a religion that has a child sex scandal every other year, to say nothing of the child brides and the predators, who aren’t held accountable because the church has been caught suppressing stories to protect predators.

    Mormon Lego, not-Lego Sets

    Anyways, the main issue beyond the terrible name is the sets they actually sell. They have the expected sets of different temples and biblical stories. Because it’s the holiday time, they’ve been pushing nativity scenes, and that’s why I’ve brought you here today.

    @the_jenc I got questions #weird #lego #legotiktok I’m not #exmormon but I feel like y’all will want to see this#greenscreen ♬ original sound – Jen

    Yes, you saw that correctly: The “traditional” nativity scene is very, very white except for two of the wise men. Unfortunately, this is a common thing in most religions that utilize nativity scenes, including Catholicism and Protestantism, despite the story being set in the Middle East. The real kicker is that, if you take issue with it, the Mormon not-Lego company has got you covered with an “African Nativity” and “Asian Nativity”—white is the default, and everyone else is “DiVeRsItY.”

    In the African Nativity, the wife has lighter skin than the husband (because, of course, colorism is free) and the scene is set in a hut. The Asian Nativity scene looks like a generic scene of China, but I can’t be sure. I can’t with these. The more I see them, the more I want to scream.

    Racism in the LDS Church

    This is equally disgusting and very much not surprising. Mormons of all races and ethnicities exist because, like Evangelicals, they are proselytizing people. There are so many memes about the men and women dressed up with a Bible or other religious text in hand, knocking door to door. Missionary and colonizing work is big both here and abroad. Also embedded in the Mormon religion’s founding is that Black people are the “cursed” children of God and fence-sitters in a Holy War. Yeah, so we should be so lucky as to get a racist-ass, knockoff lego set.

    According to The Washington Post, “[Young] enforced it enthusiastically as the word of God, supporting slavery in Utah and decreeing that the ‘mark’ on Cain was ‘the flat nose and black skin.’ Young subsequently urged immediate death to any participant in mixing of the races.” While the 1982, anti-Mormon cartoon The God Makers has been criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of the faith (by many people, not just Mormons), the section about Black people lines up with popular Mormon belief before the 1950s.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XoOnSVnnLQ

    Within the church, Black people weren’t allowed to be priests until 1978, and the religion’s main publisher continued to print a 1950s book defending the ban (Mormon Doctrine) until 2010. In a 2016 survey, 62% of self-identified Mormons say they either “know” or “believe” this ban to be God’s will. The number was 70% among non-white Mormons, though there’s likely a larger margin of error because of the small sample size.

    As with other communities experiencing racism and anti-Blackness, this isn’t something that’s just “dying out” because young people are expressing softer versions of the same views. One of the most popular non-sports or Greek-related college group TikTok accounts is the Black Menaces at BYU, and they reveal to the world how bigoted beliefs still permeate the LDS church by asking basic questions regarding gender, race, and sexuality. They even have a knockoff game inspired by Billy Eichner, where they ask students to name a Black historical figure, which goes about as well as the Lego set. The questions extend to Mormon history, like when they recite a quote and ask who said it—Brigham Young or Adolf Hitler?

    Related to the priesthood question and status of progress, many students will make excuses for the policy and say it’s a “product of its time” while claiming the church and community aren’t racist anymore—and offering just as much imagination as those janky bricks.

    (via TikTok, featured image: Warner Bros.)

    —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

    Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

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    Alyssa Shotwell

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