Love Island USA Contestant Ciera Ortega Has Addressed Her Removal from the Hit Dating Reality Show.
A Week Before The Finale, Ortega was Dropped from Season Seven After the Surfacing of Social Media Posts from 2015 and 2020 in Which She used to Racial Slur Toward the Asian Community. In a post shared on wednesday, Ortega apologized for her behavior and said, “this is not an apology video, this is an accountability video.”
In A Four-Mute Video Posted to Instagram, Ortega Said Now That She Has Had The “Chance to Process” What Happened, She is able to speak about the incident “Without Being Highly Emotional Because I Not The Victim in This Situation.”
“While i was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past Where i was very naively use an incredibly offensive and derogatory term,” she said. “And before i Get Into the Details, i want to first start by address not just anyone that I have hurt or deeplic offended, but importantly, the entitus asian community. I am deeplica, trully, honestly so smerry. I had no idea that the word help as much as mucha harm, and and and Came with the History that it did or i Never would have used it. ”
Ortega Said That She “Had no Idea of Its Meaning,” and that it Wasn't Until She “Made the Public Story Post in 2024 When a Follower of Mine Reached Out to correct me and Let Me Know That What I was Saying Was Incredibly Hurtful.” After the Follower Reached Out, Ortega Said She “Immediately deleted the post” and “was apologetic.”
“The Truth is That in that moment, The Lesson was learned, The Word was removed and it was a True Learning Moment for Me and I Think Since That Moment I'Ve Done So Much Growing As An individual, and I've Tries My Best To Educate Others Who Might Be Keepsy Holding Space For These Types of words that couUn be offensive in Their Vocabulary, “She Aided.
The former contest Also Claimed That Following The Backlash, Her Family “Had Ice [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Called On Them, “Has Received Death Threats, and no Longer” Feel Safe in Their Own Home. “
“There's no need to fight hate with hate. I don't think that that's justice,” Said Ortega.
Shortly After Her Removal from the Villa, Her Parents Posted A statement to Her Instagram Account Playing for “Compassion, for Patience, for Basic Human Decense” from the show's viewer base.
“As Cierra's Parents, This Has Been One of the Most Painful Weeks of Our Lives,” They Wrote. “We're not here to justify or ignore what's surfaced. We undertand Why people are upset, and we know accounted Matters. But What's Happening online RIGHT Now Has Gone Far Beyond That. The Threts. The Cruel Messages. The Attacks on Her Family, Her Friends, Even Her Supporters, It's Heartbreaking.
