Whelp, Love Island USA has removed contestant Cierra Ortega after old social posts came to light showing her using language that many view as offensive toward Asian communities. Ortega is now the second contestant to be taken off the show this season due to past remarks resurfacing online.
Viewers were first alerted during the July 6 episode when narrator Iain Stirling casually noted that Ortega had left the villa due to a “personal situation.” The show offered no further comment during the broadcast, but just before the episode aired, screenshots began circulating on social media. The images reportedly show Ortega using the term “chinky” in two separate posts.
One post from 2023 mentioned the shape of her smile and eyes after Botox, while another from 2019 referenced her squinted eyes. In both posts, the comments were made about her own appearance, but the language still triggered widespread backlash.
Calls for Ortega’s removal, you know, the cancel train, quickly gained momentum. A petition demanding action collected over 17,000 signatures within days. Ortega had joined Season 7 of Love Island USA on night two as a bombshell contestant and had paired up with Nic Vansteenberghe shortly before her exit.
After she left, Nic expressed his confusion and disappointment during a confessional. “Right before Cierra had left, my mind was clear,” he said. “I knew what the future would look like, and now I’m lost.” He later chose to recouple with fellow Islander Olandria Carthen.
Get this: in the aftermath of her departure, Ortega’s family took to the Gram to release a statement through her Stories. Her parents noted that she had not yet regained access to the outside world and was unaware of the controversy unfolding.
“We’re not here to justify or ignore what’s surfaced,” they wrote. “We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters. But what’s happening online right now has gone far beyond that. The threats. The cruel messages. The attacks on her family, her friends, even her supporters — it’s heartbreaking. It’s uncalled for. And no one deserves that kind of hate, no matter what mistake they’ve made.”