‘Love Island USA’: A new racial-slur scandal rocks the villa ahead of the season premiere – Los Angeles Times

“Love Island USA” will be one bombshell short heading into its newest season on Tuesday, as the series finds itself mired in yet another scandal over a racial slur.
Vasana Montgomery, a beauty technician based in Beaverton, Ore., will no longer appear in the newest season of “Love Island USA,” The Times confirmed on Monday. The Peacock reality TV series parted ways with Montgomery days after unveiling its cast of incoming “Islanders.” She faces scrutiny for apparently using the N-word in videos that recently resurfaced on social media.
Montgomery is the latest “Love Island USA” star to face backlash over racial slurs. Last year, contestant Cierra Ortega prematurely left the villa as she faced criticism for her past social media posts that included a slur for Chinese (and, more generally, Asian) people. A month before that, contestant Yulissa Escobar was out by the season’s second episode amid social media outcry over her use of the N-word.
Television
‘Love Island USA’ contestant Yulissa Escobar leaves the show less than 20 minutes into the second episode. Her use of a racial slur on podcasts may be to blame.
A brief video that circulated on social media over the weekend shows Montgomery rapping along to a song and saying the racial slur. Montgomery also can be heard saying the slur while playing a shooting game at an arcade, according to TMZ and Variety. Montgomery did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
A source familiar with “Love Island USA” production told The Times on Monday that the controversial videos surfaced on social media from a private account and were not published until after the cast announcement last week. The source noted that, if the videos were private, they would not have been viewable during Peacock’s cast vetting process.
In Peacock’s cast reveal published Thursday, Montgomery describes herself as “the full package.”
Television
Cierra Ortega, the second contestant kicked off ‘Love Island’ after racist comments surfaced on social media, says ‘I am not the victim in this situation.’
“I own a business, I live alone, I have a dog,” she said in the video. “If you were to ask my friends what my type is, they’d show you the world map.”
“Love Island USA” Season 8 premieres Tuesday, sans Montgomery, and will feature a number of SoCal bombshells among its cast in Fuji. The series streams on Peacock at 6 p.m. and will air new episodes daily, except on Wednesdays after this week.
“Vanderpump Rules” alum Ariana Madix returns to host.
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Alexandra Del Rosario is an entertainment reporter on the Los Angeles Times Fast Break Desk. Before The Times, she was a television reporter at Deadline Hollywood, where she first served as an associate editor. She has written about a wide range of topics including TV ratings, casting and development, video games and AAPI representation. Del Rosario is a UCLA graduate and also worked at the Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap.
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