‘Love Island USA’ Star Speaks Out After Death Threats Over Anti-Asian Slur Controversy

Cierra Ortega, who was ousted from the Love Island villa after screenshots of her using an Asian slur resurfaced, is hitting back at internet bullies taking things too far.

The 25-year-old Love Island USA star took to her Instagram Story on Sunday, July 13, to share some of the comments and DMs that she has received since leaving the villa.

“hey so is this still about accountability or…?” Ortega writes atop a screenshot of several messages from online trolls telling her to hurt herself and threatening both her and her family’s safety.

Following the screenshots, Ortega wrote a lengthy paragraph condemning the hatred that she has been receiving, stating, “What should be a collective opportunity to address derogatory language and the harm they carry, has instead snowballed into an excuse for cruelty.”

She continued by stating how she wishes that the energy being put into this hatred could be, “alchemized into something with real impact.”

Ortega finished her message with the intention of spreading love and finding ways to better uplift the community that has been directly impacted and says, “Love will always go further.”

This comes after Ortega posted a five-minute apology video to her Instagram following her removal from the villa on day 26.

In the video, Ortega addresses the Asian community directly, stating she is, “deeply, truly, honestly, so sorry,” for the harm that she has brought. While she claims to have used the slur in ignorance and without realizing what it meant, she says, “Intent doesn’t excuse ignorance.”

Ortega even believes that production made the right call in removing her from the villa and that her “punishment has been received.”

She continued in her apology video to explain that after a follower reached out and educated her on the significance of the slur in question, she immediately deleted the post and removed that word from her vocabulary.

With Love Island skyrocketing Ortega’s social media following, fans were shocked to find two separate instances of her using the Asian slur — one in 2015 and one in 2023. Viewers immediately called for her removal from the show, similar to how Yulissa Escobar was removed after a podcast clip surfaced of her using a different racial slur.