Love Island USA alum Belle-A Walker has thoughts on Cierra Ortega’s abrupt exit from the villa. 

During Sunday’s episode, narrator Iain Stirling announced that Cierra was leaving the Peacock reality series due to a “personal situation.” The 25-year-old’s sudden departure came after old social media posts resurfaced where she allegedly used racial slurs, including an offensive term for Chinese people.

After Cierra’s exit, fellow Islander Belle-A took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the situation. Belle-A was the first person sent home on this season of Love Island USA.  

“As a proud Asian American woman, I’m deeply appreciative of Love Island USA producers for taking a stand and making it clear that racism of any kind is not tolerated,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. 

“When I first saw what my fellow Islander said on their social media pages, I was incredibly heartbroken,” she continued. But I wanted to wait until they left the villa and were able to address the situation, genuinely apologize, and commit to learning from the experience before deciding how our relationship would look moving forward.”

As Belle-A learned more about Cierra’s posts, her attitude changed. 

“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 announced, before going on to say that “Asian hate is oftentimes overlooked and dismissed.”

“Being a first-generation American, I have personally witnessed and experienced how real and hurtful comments like these are. It it my hope that this situation can help shed light on how big of an issue anti-Asian hate acutally is,” she said. 

While Belle-A was hurt by Cierra’s comments, she urged people not to respond with more hate. 

“Please think twice before leaving unkind comments to or about this person,” she wrote. 

Cierra Ortega’s family asks people ‘for compassion’ 

Cierra herself has not yet addressed her social media comments or her Love Island USA departure. In a post on their daughter’s Instagram, her parents said she had not seen the online discussion about her actions.

“We’re not here to justify or ignore what’s surfaced. We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters,” they wrote. “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.”

Cierra is “still away” and “hasn’t had the chance to process any of this or speak for herself,” they continued. “When she returns, we believe she’ll face this with honesty, growth, and grace. Until then, we’re simply asking for compassion. For patience. For basic human decency.”

Season 7 Islander Yulissa Escobar was also kicked out of the villa  

Cierra is the second Love Island USA Season 7 cast member booted from the villa for using racial slurs. Yulisa Escobar was quietly sent home early in the season after videos surfaced where she used the N-word in podcast interviews. She’s since apologized for her comments. In a TikTok video, she shared her experience of learning she’d been kicked off the show. After producers called her away and asked her to remove her microphone, she “honestly got scared.”

“I thought something was happening with a family member or something. I didn’t know what was going on. They didn’t really tell me anything, they just said, you know, a video resurfaced [on the] internet and it’s not looking too good.”

Yulissa spent two days in a hotel in Fiji without her phone before learning why she’d been sent home. 

“It is what it is,” she said. “I can’t go back in time. I am sorry that I said that word.”

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