Controversial Love Island USA 2025 contestant Cierra Ortega has officially addressed the online outrage that stemmed from her use of an anti-Asian slur in past social media posts.
ICYMI, Love Island USA 2025 has been rife with scandals, with two contestants being kicked out prematurely for their use of racial slurs in old social media posts. The most recent contestant to get the boot was 25-year-old content creator Cierra Ortega, who sparked major controversy after her old Instagram posts, in which used an anti-Asian slur twice, resurfaced.
After the posts went viral, fans pressured Love Island USA producers to axe her from the villa, which eventually happened in episode 30 when narrator Iain Stirling confirmed she left due to “personal reasons”. While the real reason behind Cierra’s departure has yet to be revealed, many speculate that it was due to those IG posts.
Now, officially out of the villa, Cierra has addressed the controversy head-on, apologising to the Asian community.
“I know, a lot of people have been waiting for me to speak up about the news that’s come to light recently, and now that I’ve been back in the US for about 48 hours, and I’ve had the chance to process I now feel like I’m at a space where I can speak about this without being highly emotional, because I am not the victim in this situation,” Cierra began in her IG video.
“While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term.
“Before I get into the details, I want to first start by addressing not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community I am deeply, truly, honestly so sorry.”
Cierra claimed that she had “no idea” the word she used was offensive and that she was unaware of its extremely dark history.
“I had no idea that the word held as much pain as much harm, and came with the history that it did, or I never would have used it. I had no ill intention when I was using it. But that’s absolutely no excuse, because intent doesn’t excuse ignorance,” she continued.
Furthermore, Cierra said she was taking accountability for her previous actions, insisting that she “genuinely” had no idea the word she used was a slur, and wasn’t made aware of its history until a follower pointed it out to her in 2024 when she made a post using the hurtful word.
“I do want to hold my hands up and say that I take accountability for using the word, but I do want it to be known that I genuinely had no idea that it was a slur,” Cierra added.
“I had no idea of its meaning, and it wasn’t until I 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.”
In the video, Cierra shared a screenshot of her conversation with the follower who called her out. In the direct message, Cierra apologised to the follower and said she was “embarrassed” for being “naive and unaware”.
“I was apologetic, and I educated not only myself on the true meaning and history of the word, but also anyone around me who was accidentally holding space for this slur,” Cierra continued.
“When this person did message me, which I’m so grateful that she did. I had a good conversation with her about it. I made the correction immediately, and the word was immediately removed from my vocabulary. And I think right now there are tons of things floating around, different screenshots with different timestamps and fueling this narrative that I sort of doubled down once people tried to correct me… that was not the case.
“Like 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 tried my best to educate others who might be accidentally holding space for these types of words that could be offensive in their vocabulary.”
In regards to her premature exit from the Love Island USA villa, Cierra said she agreed “with the network’s decision” to have her removed.
“I think that this is something that deserved punishment, and the punishment has absolutely been received, for sure,” Cierra added.
But while she acknowledges the backlash, she condemns the way fans have been attacking her family. She also claimed that someone had called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on her family.
“What’s been extremely, extremely difficult is the way people are approaching my family and my loved ones. You know, they have had ICE called on them. My family doesn’t feel safe in their own home. I’m receiving death threats — there’s no need to fight hate with hate,” Cierra shared.
Closing her video statement, Cierra apologised once again and acknowledged that no apology will undo the hurt she has caused by using the word. However, she promises to make up for her use of the words through her actions.
“I do need it to be known that I am sorry and I did mean no harm, and hopefully there are people out there that can use my mistake as a learning moment and to just be better, because that’s what I’m going to do,” Cierra continued.
“I’m going to take today and tomorrow, and I’m going to take strides to be better, and all I can ask for is — even if you won’t give me forgiveness — if you can just allow me to grow with grace. And hopefully, instead of sitting here and trying to convince you that I am this amazing person who spreads light in the world and celebrates cultures and dynamics and backgrounds, then one day, you can see that from me, I’m deeply sorry again, and I thank anyone who’s listening.”
Meanwhile, on her Instagram Stories, Cierra shared a lengthy written statement reiterating that she has no space for racism or “the repression of any cultural group in any form”.
In this statement, Cierra also revealed that she had a “magical” time in the Love Island USA villa and that she will “cherish” all the memories she made with her fellow islanders.
“My experience in the villa was nothing short of magical,” she revealed in her IG Story statement.
“The memories I made and the people I met are ones I’ll cherish forever. While I’m heartbroken my journey had to be cut short, I understand that mistakes, especially ones like this, deserve consequences.
“Once again, to the Asian community, I am deeply sorry for my thoughtless mistake and the harm it caused.”
Fans react to Love Island USA‘s Cierra Ortega’s apology
So far, Cierra has received a lot of support from fans, with many thanking her for taking accountability and acknowledging her wrongdoings.
How did Cierra Ortega get kicked out of the Love Island USA ?
As previously mentioned, Cierra was officially axed from the villa in episode 30, with Stirling announcing she was leaving for “personal reasons”.
Amid the hullabaloo, some fans speculated you could hear her scream “you can’t do that” during another contestant’s confessional, hinting that her departure was quite messy.
According to an inside source, Cierra reportedly didn’t want to leave the show “and tried to apologise” for the resurfaced posts.
“We had to tell her to exit the show, as what happened would have created a lot of prejudice, and it’s the kind of behaviour that is simply unacceptable,” the insider revealed to The US Sun.
“She didn’t want to leave the show and tried to apologise for what she did. We decided that apologies aren’t enough for topics like this. She got upset when we told her that she had to leave the show as soon as possible.”
The insider also dished that Cierra “thought she could save her spot” on Love Island USA with an apology.
“It was never an option and we had to decide quickly and inform her so she could start getting ready to get out,” the source continued.
“Cierra was against leaving the show at first, and thought an apology would be enough, but it doesn’t work like this.
“She felt bad, she was very upset but we had to let her go, as we can’t have a bad image and allow people use such unacceptable words and racial slurs.”
The source added that Cierra was both “very sad” and “scared of the aftermath” after she left the villa.
As for the remaining contestants, Zak Srakaew, who was dumped during Cierra’s exit, shared what was revealed to them when Love Island USA producers decided she would be leaving the show.
“When Cierra left, the producers gathered us all together, and they said, ‘Unfortunately, Cierra has broken some of the policies of our guidelines. She’ll no longer be here in the villa. And that’s the only information we can give you guys,’” Zak shared.
“And if we need somebody to speak to, go speak to them.”
Love Island USA has yet to make a statement acknowledging Cierra and Yulissa Escobar‘s abrupt evictions from the villa.
Yulissa was kicked out of the villa in episode two after a video of her using the N-word went viral. The 27-year-old has since addressed her controversy and has also apologised for using the word.
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