Another Love Island USA star is in hot water this week. One of the season’s main cast members, Cierra Ortega, was caught with something deeply problematic—a racist slur which appeared in one of her Instagram highlights.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Cierra used the offensive word not just once, but twice on her personal page. Given all the backlash that has erupted since then, viewers are waiting to see what the repercussions will be for Cierra, and whether she’ll be able to remain on the reality TV show at all.

Cierra Used A Racist Slur To Describe Her Own Features

Fans who combed through Cierra’s Instagram page noticed two incidents of the reality TV star using problematic language. The first is from a post dated back to 2015: in the photo, Cierra appears on top of a mountain, and her caption for the image makes fun of the way her eyes appear to squint when she smiles.

In another, which appeared in one of Cierra’s Instagram highlights (meaning that she chose to have it prominently featured on her page), Cierra discussed the kind of medical procedures she likes to have done to her face. This post, conversely, is much more recent, dated as February of 2023.

In the story, Cierra posted an image of herself sitting in a chair in the doctor’s office and pursing her lips. Over the photo, she wrote a few sentences about why she opted for injectables:

Cierra’s Instagram story proceeded to use a racist slur about Asians to describe her eyeshape, saying she liked to get a mini brow lift in order to “get that snatched look.”

Unsurprisingly, fans were deeply upset to see Cierra’s use of the slur—and many were calling for her immediate removal from the show. “A slur used repeatedly is too much. Racism towards the AAPI community is racism nonetheless and I think it’s tiring how everyone is trying to sweep it under the rug. Grow up,” commented one person.

Others pointed out how it would be an even bigger incident if those behind the show didn’t choose to have Cierra removed from the show. On top of being deeply offensive, Cierra’s use of a slur also falls into a pattern of cast members using problematic language online. “This is going to show a huge double standard for love island if they don’t kick her off,” commented another user.

This Isn’t The First Incident Of A Cast Member Using A Racial Slur

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that this isn’t even the first time a cast member has been caught using a racial slur this season. Viewers of the show may recall that, early on in the season, cast member Yulissa Escobar was removed after appearing in just two episodes of the show.

After clips from a podcast appearance resurfaced of Yulissa using a different racial slur to describe her dating life, saying the word repeatedly, producers made the call to remove her from the show. Her disappearance was barely addressed at the time, with the episode simply noting that she’d left the villa and saying little else.

After her removal from the show, Yulissa took to her own social media to offer an apology to her followers:

Despite the apology, many fans wrote it off as insincere, and some fans even wrote that they believed Yulissa had used AI to craft the words. Either way, most didn’t seem to buy the official apology, and Yulissa herself has since doubled down, saying she doesn’t believe she deserves the backlash she finds herself on the receiving end of.

As of now, it has not been reported that Cierra will also be pulled from the show, and, this deep into the season, it’s possible that producers will opt to keep her in. As of this article’s writing, Cierra remains coupled up with Nic Vansteenberghe, and the pair are one of the central couples that the season is following. Only time will tell what her future in the villa actually looks like.