Love Island USA mysteriously lost another Islander. During the July 6 episode of the series, the narrator announced that Cierra Ortega departed the villa because of a “personal situation.” However, viewers at home knew that her exit was linked to backlash over some of Cierra’s old social media posts. And now the first Islander is speaking out about Cierra’s scandal. Enter Belle-A Walker.
Cierra’s social media posts allegedly show her using a slur that is offensive to Asian people. So, Belle-A shared her thoughts about Cierra’s troubling behavior and explained why their friendship is over. Belle-A even unfollowed Cierra on social media.
Belle-A can “no longer support” Cierra after her racial slur use
As you may recall, Belle-A was the first contestant eliminated when Nic Vansteenberghe opted to recouple with bombshell Cierra. PEOPLE reported that Belle-A posted a statement to her Instagram Story about Cierra’s exit. “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,” Belle-A’s statement began. “Asian hate is oftentimes overlooked and dismissed. I have personally witnessed and experienced how real and hurtful comments like these are. It is my hope that this situation can shed light on how big of an issue anti-Asian hate actually is.”
At first, Belle-A “wanted to wait” to give Cierra the chance to “address the situation, genuinely apologize, and commit to learning from the experience before deciding how our relationship would look moving forward.” However, as more “screenshots continued to surface,” Belle-A posted, “I could no longer support this person.”
Still, Belle-A issued a request that people not be hateful towards Cierra. “I do not condone bigotry or racism of any kind,” she wrote. “But I also don’t condone hate either. Please think twice before leaving unkind comments to or about this person.”
Recently, Cierra’s parents addressed the situation in a statement on their daughter’s Instagram Story, asking for “compassion” and “basic human decency.” Cierra still doesn’t have her phone back, and they said that she will “take responsibility in her own time” for her actions.
Love Island USA is available to stream on Peacock, with new episodes airing every day except Wednesdays.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BELLE-A’S COMMENTS? WILL OTHER ELIMINATED ISLANDERS SPEAK OUT ABOUT CIERRA?
