Cierra Ortega's Friends Distance Themselves From Love Island Star Following Racist Posts
It was announced during the Sunday, July 6 episode that the Love Island star "left the villa due to a personal situation, leaving Nic officially single."
While this came as a surprise to the rest of the villa, to most viewers it did not come as a shock. The drama had been brewing for days after social media users found past posts by Cierra which included an offensive slur.
As the drama unfolding outside of the villa, Cierra's friend MJ Hedderman -- who had been Cierra's social media handler while she was in the villa -- took to her personal Instagram to share her thoughts on the situation.
"Hi guys, I see your comments concerning someone I love and care about," she began on her own account.
"I want to be clear that I do not condone racism, bigotry or hate in any way shape or form, nor was I aware of the recent screenshots until they were posted," she continued. "I discovered it at the same time as all of you did."
MJ then turned off Cierra's comments and stopped posting on Cierra's behalf.
"I cannot speak for anybody or make any statements besides my own, and decided to take a step back from running her account," she added. "I was asked by her family to turn off comments and refrain from speaking on her behalf. This situation has been really difficult, and I'm still processing everything."
Since the controversy began, Cierra lost almost 300k followers.
Following the episode, Cierra's fellow season seven Islander Belle-A Walker spoke out.
"As a proud Asian American woman, I'm deeply appreciative of the 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.
"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. It is my hope that this situation can help shed light on how big of an issue anti-Asian hate actually is."
She also revealed that she made the decision to unfollow Cierra on social media.
"I do not condone bigotry or racism of any kind. But I also don't condone hate either. Please think twice before leaving unkind comments to or about this person," she added.
Another friend, Johnnie Olivia, was also handling Cierra's social media and issued her own statement as well.
"I'm sure many of you have noticed that I've refrained from talking about Love Island and have stopped publicly supporting my friend on the show," she wrote via Instagram on July 4.
"This was after I saw a post involving a racial slur for the first time," she wrote via Instagram on Friday. "I loved supporting her during her time on the show, but once I came across that post, I felt it was necessary to take a step back."
"I do not support or condone that kind of language," she continued, emphasizing that she was keeping her distance and that she is not aligned with that kind of behavior. "Never have, never will. Racism in any form is unacceptable. And to be clear unless you are Asian, you do not get to decide whether or not that word is offensive. Anyone who isn't Asian should not be speaking about the seriousness or impact of that word."
While Cierra has yet to comment on the backlash she has received, her family has spoken out on her behalf -- insisting that while "accountability matters," the actions by some social media users have 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. No one deserves that kind of hate," they continued.
Cierra is not the first Islander to be removed from the villa this season due to racial slurs. Yulissa Escobar was pulled earlier this season. Her departure came after clips of Yulissa using racial slurs on a podcast circulated online.
"I had gotten called to the front and then I met one of the producers and they asked me to take my mic off," she explained in a July TikTok. "I figured something serious was kind of happening. I honestly got scared. I thought something happened with a family member. 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."
She continued: "I didn't get my phone back for another two days. They were waiting for the two episodes that I was in to air. I was literally in my hotel room losing my mind because I didn't know what was going on. I just knew that there was a video out there. 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."
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