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| Cierra Ortega leaves reality show. |
Racism is a no-no on Love Island USA, one of the most popular reality shows on television. One of the show's contestants was kicked off the show after her use of a slur against Asians became known.
Last week, Cierra Ortega was one of the favorites in the show where young, attractive people hope to find their true love. Sunday, she disappeared from the program without an explanation.
Pressure for Ortega's ouster had been building for weeks as fans condemned Ortega's earlier social media anti-Asian statements became viral.
Last Sunday, July 6, the narrator simply said that 25-year old Ortega, a content creator, had left the show for "personal" reasons.
Ortega's posts referenced the shape of her eyes when she smiles. She described her smiling eyes in a negative by using a racist slur describing Asians' eyes.
Pushback continued to mount because another contestant was tossed out of the show earlier when she used an anti-Black slur. If the producers let Ortega continue, it would appear that the anti-Asian insult was not as severe as the anti-Black smear.
According to several polls and surveys, anti-Asian sentiment and attacks have increased significantly since the pandemic and the first Trump administration when he inflamed racists with his anti-Chinese rhetoric. Almost half of Asian American adults report experiencing anti-Asian acts, said the surveys.
To make things worse, even after one of the respsponders explained the slur's negative connotation, she repeated in another post.
Ortega has reportedly lost 200,000 followers on her socials, according to The NY Daily News and 17,000 people signed a petition to get her removed from the show."While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term," Ortega posted on a lengthy Instagram video after she was released.
"And before I get into the details, I want to first start by addressing not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community. I am deeply, truly, honestly, so sorry. I had no idea that the word held as much pain, as much harm, and came with the history that it did, or I never would have used it. I had no ill intention when I was using it, but that’s absolutely no excuse because intent doesn’t excuse ignorance. It just doesn’t. And I just need you to know that I am so sorry, but this is not an apology video. This is an accountability video.”
She continued: “I think right now there are tons of things floating around, different screenshots with different time stamps and fueling this narrative that I sort of doubled down once people tried to correct me and was like, ‘Oh, like I don’t know, I’m still gonna use it,’ but that was not the case,” she said in the lengthy video. “The truth is that in that moment, the lesson was learned, the word was removed and it was a true learning moment for me and I think since that moment I’ve done so much growing as an individual, and I’ve tried my best to educate others who might be accidentally holding space for these types of words that could be offensive in their vocabulary.”
"I completely agree with the network's decision to remove me from the villa. I think that this is something that deserved punishment, and the punishment has absolutely been received for sure," she said.
FYI: The Love Island USA Season 7 finale will be aired on Sunday, July 13 on Peacock. The show will conclude with a final episode where the winning couple will be revealed and awarded the $100,000 prize. New episodes of Love Island USA air daily at 9 p.m. ET, except Wednesdays. The show is exclusively available on Peacock.
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