“There's no need to fight hate with hate” — Love Island’s Cierra Ortega takes accountability for “naively” using racial slur following online backlash

Former Love Island USA season 7 contestant, Cierra Ortega, took to Instagram to post a video addressing her resurfaced posts where she used racial slurs. Cierra made a surprising exit on the July 6 episode, with narrator Iain Stirling confirming that she left the show for "personal reasons."

However, netizens found that Cierra was removed from the show by producers after her past posts, in which she used racial slurs, resurfaced on the internet. Cierra posted a five-minute "accountability video" after she "had the chance to process" all the drama surrounding her exit. Cierra said,

"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. 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."

Cierra said she's "deeply sorry" and mentioned that she had "no idea" that the "world held so much pain and harm, and came with the history that it did."

She added,

"I had no ill intention of using it, but that's absolutely no excuse because intent doesn't excuse ignorance."

She also opened up about her family receiving death threats over the post and added,

"There's no need to fight hate with hate. I don't think that that's justice."

What did Cierra Ortega's resurfaced post say?

Between 2015 and 2023, Cierra Ortega shared social media posts detailing her makeup routine and describing her face using an anti-Asian slur. Screenshots of netizens calling out the reality star and educating her on the slur also resurfaced, where Cierra Ortega can be seen responding with:

"Oh man, thankfully that's not how I used it."

The slur is used against people of Chinese heritage and anyone with East Asian features. Cierra Ortega in her video also noted that she "genuinely" had no idea that it was a slur, or of its meaning, and it wasn't until she made a public story post in 2024, when a follower reached out to correct her.

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Fellow love-islander, Belle-A Walker, who was eliminated from the show before Cierra, also released a statement. Belle-A is of Asian and Filipino descent and noted that "Asian hate is oftentimes overlooked and dismissed."

Cierra's parents and her social media managers had earlier also released a statement, acknowledging and apologizing for the consequences of the post. Ortega in the video also mentioned that her family has been targeted in the backlash and that "they have had ICE (U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement) called on them" and that they no longer "feel safe in their own home."

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