'Love Island' Producers Spark Divided Response Among Watchers After Multiple Warnings About Cyberbullying

Yahoo

7 hours ago

"Love Island USA" is the show that keeps on giving.
With five episodes a week, nonstop drama, and controversial personalities, it's no surprise that the show's fans become deeply invested in the series.
However, according to "Love Island USA" producers, some members of the show's loyal fan base have taken things too far, prompting the network to issue a message asking viewers to be kind.
Hours before the most recent episode became available for streaming on Peacock on June 24, the official Love Island social media page shared a message for the show's fans.
"We appreciate the fans, the passion for the series, and the amazing group of Islanders who are sharing their summer with us," the post began.
"Please just remember they're real people, so let's be kind and spread the love," the message concluded.
But the reminder to be kind to the contestants didn't stop there.
During the episode, which saw the men and women separated for the Casa Amor twist with new bombshells, the producers issued another on-screen statement to viewers who may not be keeping up with the online discourse.
"THE KEYWORD IN LOVE ISLAND IS...LOVE," the message read on screen. "WE LOVE OUR FANS. WE LOVE OUR ISLANDERS, WE DON'T LOVE CYBERBULLYING, HARASSMENT, OR HATE."
Host Ariana Madix shared a similar message during a previous interview, reported by The Blast, where she urged the people running the islanders' social media pages to "be on top of blocking, deleting, and setting limits on words."
"They shouldn't see any of that when they get their phones back," she added.
However, she had more to say during a recent episode of "Love Island: Aftersun."
During the June 21 episode, Madix reminded viewers to "be nice" to the Islanders while they're in the villa without their phones and cut off from the outside world.
"Love Island has the best fans across the entire globe," the former "Vanderpump Rules" star said. "Passionate, and I love that. There's such a great, amazing communal experience when it comes to watching the show, but I do want to say something to some of those people who are online."
She then issued a stern warning, saying, "Don't be contacting people's families. Don't be doxing people. Don't be going on islanders' pages and saying rude things."
"You still have time to delete all of that, because the islanders don't have their phones," she added. "So we're giving you a chance. Because this is a fun, amazing, beautiful show, and we should be thanking each one of these islanders every single day for giving us themselves. Be nice. Please be nice, or I'll come find you."
And Madix and the show's producers aren't the only ones speaking out.
According to E! News, Noah Sheline, Huda Mustafa's ex-boyfriend, also shared a message of support for the mother of one in a video of his own.
"At the end of the day, I hope everyone remembers we're human," Sheline, who shares a four-year-old daughter with Mustafa, said on TikTok. "Her going on that show to find love, or whatever you think it was she's doing, remember she's still human, she has a daughter, and a life."
On social media, the "Love Island" producers' message about cyberbullying sparked strong and divided reactions among many viewers.
"Not they gave us a cyberbullying warning," someone wrote before adding, "yikes, y'all are out of control."
Someone else echoed that sentiment, sharing, "I love that Ariana Madix took a minute to tell y'all heauxs to stop bullying the islanders online [and] to delete the comments before they get their phones back."
They added, "Making death threats [and] bullying someone you don't even know is absolutely insane."
Not all of the messages, however, were as receptive to the note.
"Lol, #LoveIslandUSA putting that little Love message about cyberbullying is real, but also, like, they ain't doing the edits to paint people out as villains," a user posted.
"Love Island be so f-cking for real," another wrote. "You're talking about cyberbullying when you're the reason for said bullying. And now we're the villains?"