‘Love Island USA' star Cierra Ortega abruptly exits show after racist posts resurface as her family speaks out
'Love Island USA' star Cierra Ortega, 25, made a shocking and abrupt exit from the Peacock reality dating series on Sunday.
On Sunday, narrator Iain Stirling made the vague announcement that Ortega left the American version of the hit reality dating franchise due to a 'personal situation.'
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The content creator's swift departure comes amid backlash to her past social media posts that allegedly contained racial slurs aimed at Chinese people.
The Post reached out to NBC and Peacock for comment.
9 Cierra Ortega on 'Love Island USA.'
Ben Symons/Peacock
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9 Cierra Ortega on 'Love Island USA.'
cierra.ortega/Instagram
Since the post went viral, the former 'Love Island' star lost over 200,000 followers within 48 hours. She had been in a relationship with Nic Vansteenberg, and her departure leaves him single.
Ortega has yet to comment, but her parents posted a statement on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, calling it 'one of the most painful weeks of our lives.'
They wrote, 'We're not here to justify or ignore what's surfaced. We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters. But what's happening online right now has gone far beyond that.'
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They explained that Ortega hadn't seen the social media backlash yet, as she was secluded in the 'Love Island' villa in Fiji and then continued to be offline.
9 'Love Island USA' star Cierra Ortega's parents' Instagram statement.
cierra.ortega/Instagram
9 Cierra Ortega on 'Love Island USA.'
Ben Symons/Peacock
9 Cierra Ortega and Nicolas Vansteenberghen on 'Love Island USA.'
Ben Symons/Peacock
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'The threats. The cruel messages. The attacks on her family, her friends, even her supporters, it's heartbreaking,' the statement continued.
'It's uncalled for. And no one deserves that kind of hate, no matter what mistake they've made. While Cierra is not in the villa anymore, she is still away. She hasn't had the chance to process any of this or speak for herself.'
'But we know our daughter. We know her heart. And when she returns, we believe she'll face this with honesty, growth, and grace,' the statement concluded. 'While she'll always be our little girl, she's also a woman, one who will take responsibility in her own time and her own voice. Until then, we're simply asking for compassion. For patience. For basic human decency. Not just for her, but for everyone caught in the middle of this.'
9 Cierra Ortega on 'Love Island USA.'
Ben Symons/Peacock
9 Cierra Ortega's controversial social media post from 2015.
Cierra Ortega/Instagram
Ortega's departure is just the latest 'Love Island' scandal.
Earlier this season, fellow Islander Yulissa Escobar also exited after past racist comments resurfaced.
When the cast was first announced, fans quickly uncovered two podcast clips where Escobar could be heard using the N-word.
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'Now I'm f–king my [N-word], he's my [N-word],' she says in a video shared on Reddit.
9 Cierra Ortega's controversial Instagram Story.
Cierra Ortega/Instagram
In a July TikTok, Escobar said, 'I had gotten called to the front and then I met one of the producers and they asked me to take my mic off. I figured something serious was kind of happening. I honestly got scared. I thought something happened with a family member.'
She explained, 'They didn't really tell me anything. They just said that a video resurfaced on the internet and it's not looking too good. I didn't really know what video or what I was saying or what I did.'
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Due to being sequestered,Escobar said she was in her hotel room 'losing my mind' without social media access. 'I didn't know what was going on. I just knew that there was a video out there,' she explained. 'I get it. I said a word that I should have not said. But I wish I would have never said that. It is what it is. I can't go back in time. I am sorry that I said that word.'
9 Iris Kendall, Hannah Fields, Amaya Espinal, Olandria Carthen, Megan Thee Stallion, Michelle Chelley, Bissainthe, Huda Mustafa, and Cierra Ortega on 'Love Island USA.'
Ben Symons/Peacock
Following Ortega's exit, fellow Islander Belle-A Walker, who was dumped from the villa, also took to social media to address the scandal in her Instagram Stories.
'When I first saw what my fellow Islander said on their social media pages, I was incredibly heartbroken,' Walker wrote.
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'As screenshots continued to surface, it became clear that I could no longer support this person, and made the decision to unfollow them a couple of days ago,' she continued. 'Asian hate is oftentimes overlooked and dismissed. But being a first-generation American, I have personally witnessed and experienced how real and hurtful comments like these are.'
New episodes of 'Love Island USA' air every night, except Wednesdays, at 9 p.m. on Peacock.
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