On Sunday, Cierra Ortega left Love Island USA after old Instagram posts came to light in which she used an anti-Asian slur. Ortega faced backlash online after the posts emerged, and thousands of people signed a petition calling for her to be removed from the villa.
Now, Ortega has broken her silence, apologizing in a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday. In the video — which she said was “not an apology video” but “an accountability video” — the reality star said she’d taken a couple days to process so she could speak without being “highly emotional.”
“While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naïvely using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term,” she said. “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. 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.”
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Ortega said that, at the time she used the derogatory term, she “genuinely had no idea” the word she’d used was a slur and said she learned its meaning after a follower reached out to her last year. Ortega said she was “embarrassed” but “so grateful” to that person for educating her, and she quickly deleted the post. “The word was immediately removed from my vocabulary,” she added. Ortega said she “completely agrees with the network’s decision” to kick her off the show, saying her actions were “something that deserves punishment.”
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Ortega said the backlash against her family has gone too far, saying they “have had ICE called on them” and no longer “feel safe in their own home.” “I’m receiving death threats,” she said. “There’s no need to fight hate with hate. I don’t think that that’s justice.”
After her departure was announced on Sunday, Ortega’s parents shared a statement to her Instagram Story saying they had received “threats” and “cruel messages” as a result of the scandal. “We’re not here to justify or ignore what’s surfaced,” they wrote. “We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters. But what’s happening online right now has gone far beyond that.”
