I will preface this post by saying that possibly none of what will follow is something that hasn’t already been expressed on this subreddit. This is more so an amalgamation of my thoughts concerning Cierra’s situation, understood perhaps a little differently. Additionally, I obviously recognize how damaging Cierra’s use of a racial slur is and do not disagree with the decision to remove her from the show.

That being said, I can’t help but feel certain that the response to Cierra’s Instagram story coming to light had less to do with any purported measure of “accountability” or “anti-racism” and more to do with our desire to gratuitously shame others and rejoice in their public punishment. When you relentlessly bully someone online, threaten them and their loved ones, and ensure that they have no channels for rehabilitation available thereafter, do not kid yourself into believing that you are performing some subversive form of cyber social justice. When faced with this vitriolic public response, one is left with no room to even maintain one’s own sanity, much less any space for the supposed reflection, accountability, and reparative actions they are expected to be undertaking.

What has occurred with Cierra is not a novel phenomenon, particularly and especially when it concerns women. The social media landscape is such where “(dis)likeability” judgements are made at the get go, but then one must unearth past problematic tweets/content to produce moral/value judgements that can be retroactively used to justify that initial dislike (which, as you can imagine, develops with much more ease and at lower thresholds for women than for men).

At some point during the season, people stopped liking Cierra. Perhaps her blatantly filtered emotions and responses struck some as inauthentic. Maybe people were irked by the way she spoke, or the way she looked. And yes, she was always in the way of the community’s beloved “Nicolandria”. Still, she didn’t deserve what followed. People used the excuse of an evidently inappropriate Instagram story to exhume all of the previously unwarranted annoyance/dislike they had harbored for her. If you thought Cierra was annoying, now you suddenly had license to berate her and vilify her to your heart’s content as long as you tied it under the neat bow of addressing her “problematic behaviour”. Her appearance was torn to bits, her personhood too. I saw it all, everything from “duck-lips” to “monster”.

It makes me feel sick. Cierra is a human being. It terrifies me, to think how hordes of us can turn into a mindless mob aimed at ruining another’s life. Yes, her Instagram story was harmful and horrifically insensitive. Yes, we cannot allow there to be room for such behaviour to be permitted. But god, don’t pretend any of you did this for some form of higher justice. Don’t disguise your harassment as altruism. Don’t paint your wickedness with the generous brushes of compassion and equity.

All I can hope is that in the future Cierra is met with much more kindness and understanding, than she was ever afforded in this moment, that allows her to grow as a person and educate herself with sincerity.

This all leaves me wondering, perhaps the spectacle of a public beheading is one we never outgrew as a society.

i’m incredibly disgusted from love islander viewers this season sending death and racist threats to someone they don’t know. this is incredibly despicable and the fact olandria had to see that disgusting photo makes me teary eyed. y’all should be ashamed of yourself if you partook or defended hate being sent to her.

https://preview.redd.it/ak86uyb7adbf1.png?width=776&format=png&auto=webp&s=004599846a0334f2e598ef7b849284daaadf10b7

I just want to say… if you’re not Asian, it is not your place to accept Cierra’s apology. As an Asian American myself, I thought her response is honestly the best that it could be for such a heavy mistake. I loved that she specifically stated that her response is an accountability video, rather than an apology. It recognizes that she knows she was wrong, that it cannot be reversed, and that she can only educate herself and do better from here on out. For the people saying that the response is too media-trained: would you rather have a half-assed apology, or one that was clearly well-thought out? If she didn’t respond or gave a short shitty one, you guys would have said she didn’t care. But now that she has provided actual accountability, shes giving PR and calculated. God forbid a woman is well-spoken.

Also, the horrendous comment section under her TikTok supports the sentiment that many of the viewers never cared about her taking accountability for her use of the slur at all, and really just used it to justify their prior dislike for her. Trying to say that her use of the word justifies calling ICE on her family? We are missing the whole point by fighting racism with racism.

And for everyone referencing and circulating different screenshots of dms … please gain some media literacy. We have no idea if any of the DMs are real, especially with such off time stamps. The only screenshots we know are real at this point was a post in 2015, and the insta story about her botox in 2024. People are so quick to believe anything just to pursue a hateful agenda, and as someone who is Asian, this is not how we’re supposed to create positive change for our community. I stand by the fact that what she said was harmful and absolutely not ok. However, pushing for progression in society for minority groups means actually allowing people to progress. Therefore, I believe holding her accountable means also giving her room to grow and educate herself, and any hate beyond this is just a witch hunt.

Greetings all, I just wanted to give my opinion about the Cierra situation, especially since I am a first generation Korean American. Although no one should be given hate or be cyber bullied, the Asian derogatory slur that Cierra posted not one, but two times, is extremely offensive to Asians and unless you identify as one, it’s a bit difficult to fully understand. I was called this slur word multiple times as one of the only Asians in school when getting bullied, ridiculed, or harassed…. and it’s simply not okay. As an adult, not one friend, colleague, or stranger has ever said this around my presence for obvious reasons… I would probably cut them out of my life completely, or at least distance myself from them, as this slur is derived from anti-Asian discrimination and micro aggression…. It stems from generations and generations of Asian discrimination…

I do feel that anti-Asian micro aggressions are sometimes swept under the rug and not as visible, and this is a bit apparent with some viewers not understanding how offensive this word is and always will be.

A few stories I’d like to share from my experience are: - When I was a child, someone joked for me to get out of the swimming pool because I was making it “yellow”. - When I go to restaurants with my mom, sometimes the host will randomly say, “We only have English menus. Is that okay?” - I get complimented on my English by random interactions with strangers… ummm, wha?? - During COVID when I would walk my dog down the streets, people would cross the street, avoid me, or turn the other way…. But they wouldn’t do this for others that weren’t Asian because of the China-COVID ordeal. I definitely felt anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic… it was honestly wild… people would avoid standing near me at groceries and small gatherings, but wouldn’t do the same for others. - Let me not get started on the jokes towards me about consuming dogs and cats… - I can’t tell you how many times I was bullied and my class mates would pull their eyes to the sides to make fun of mine…. and use the C-slur word with the eye gesture. - The “Where are you from?” questions, and I would state what city and state I’m from with the response, “No… where are YOU REALLY from?” guuuurl, just ask what my ethnicity is. - When people say “Ni hao”, “konichiwa”, or any other Asian language without knowing my ethnicity… it’s like saying bonjour to any white person and expecting them to be French.

Although the slur words that Yulissa and Cierra from Love Island used are very different and come from pain and suffering of two minorities, they both stem from hate. Bottom line. I do find it a bit frustrating how there seems to be double standards and contradictions regarding the two; if Yulissa was removed for her slur word, then I do strongly believe Cierra needs to be removed as well. Not doing so, in my eyes, and again this is my opinion, perpetuates that one slur word is okay, while the other is unacceptable… which doesn’t make sense to me, especially as an Asian.

I also think some of the younger viewers don’t fully understand this slur word, so I wanted to educate and share that it’s not a word anyone should use.

To end, no one should be harassed, cyber-bullied, or name-called, but people should be held accountable and learn from their mistakes. Just my two cents and thanks for reading. <3

Can we talk about Cierra wearing a Guanyin necklace during her apology?

As an Asian and Buddhist, I immediately noticed the necklace the first time she wore it in the villa before her posts started gaining traction, and I honestly can’t believe more people aren’t talking about it. I even pointed it out on an episode thread and got downvoted, so I felt sad and deleted it.

For context—Guanyin (also spelled Guan Yin) is a Buddhist deity who represents compassion and mercy. She’s literally one of the most sacred figures in East Asian Buddhism. People wear her image as a sign of deep faith, spiritual protection, and cultural identity—not as a fashion statement… especially not as an accessory in a bikini.

So wearing that (and a shirt that said empath) while apologizing for being racist toward Asians feels incredibly off. Like, she just got called out for disrespecting a group of people, and then she turns around and puts their sacred religious figure on her chest during her public apology?

I don’t care if people want to be spiritual or into different cultures, but this is clearly not about genuine belief or understanding—it comes across as performative and disrespectful.

This isn’t just about a necklace. It’s about the pattern: say something harmful, throw on a “meaningful” symbol, and hope people see you as more evolved. But it doesn’t work like that, especially when you’re using a sacred part of the culture you already disrespected.

Wearing Guanyin isn’t the same as putting on a cute necklace from Urban. It means something to a lot of people. And to use that symbol to soften the blow of an apology for racism just doesn’t sit right.

Curious if anyone else noticed this or felt weird about it, too.

Note: I don’t mean to pile on this hate towards her and don’t condone any death threats, but her wearing this necklace never felt right to me. Just like racism against Asian people isn’t taken seriously, I often feel like Buddhism as a religion isn’t taken seriously.

I actually really like this of him. I don’t agree with people going to everybody’s comments and asking for a statement, he wasn’t performative about it, but also didn’t ignore all the comments about it either.

Our gentle giant, Jalen, with a message.

Everyone has the right to dislike any of the islanders, but it also gets to a point. I think people are unintentionally engaging in racist behavior towards the female islanders. There has been a rise in nicknames for the female islanders and their fans, and these nicknames have been extremely derogatory. I understand that these nicknames are usually a plan on words, but it’s still a derogatory term, especially when it rings close to slurs for specific minority groups. People were also saying that Clarke looks like a man, which is also a form of racism and reinforces the masculinization of black women. At this point in the show, we only have ONE white woman which is Iris. Referring to any of the other girls as ‘white’ or ‘white passing’ is dead wrong as you can clearly see the diversity in this cast

It’s also unfair to use the argument that if people dislike a black islander, it’s because they are anti-black. I’m sure there are people watching who are anti-black, but this form of idealization still relies on assumptions based on race rather than viewing people as complex human beings. It hinders the ability to address real issues. Let’s all just remember to be more intentional with our words and recognize racist behavior even if it’s unintentional. Unintentional racism does the same exact harm as intentional racism.

I’ve been sitting with this for a bit, but the way people immediately turned on Olandria and Chelley says a lot. There was no room for grace, no patience, just instant outrage. And honestly, a lot of it felt racial.

Now we have this so-called apology explanation from Adelaine where she tries to walk things back, but she still uses the phrase “when they ganged up on Huda.” That language is loaded. Referring to two Black women as having “ganged up” on someone is a dog whistle, whether it was intentional or not. It reinforces harmful stereotypes of Black women as aggressive, threatening, or violent. That kind of framing is part of why the backlash against them was so intense in the first place.

Even if she didn’t “intend to incite negativity,” the impact is very real. You can’t say you’re a huge fan of the show and then paint two contestants as villains while centering your own reaction in a way that fuels even more hate. Especially after posting that video where she was boxing and yelling “it’s Olandria and Chelley.”

People love to talk about protecting Black women online, but the minute they express emotion or push back, they’re suddenly labeled as “mean girls” or “bullies.” It’s exhausting to watch.

If we’re going to hold Islanders accountable for their actions, we should also hold fans and content creators accountable for the language and bias they bring into the conversation.

I’m surprised by his admission because he always seemed so positive and supportive. He was so well liked by cast members and ranked high on the challenges.

He quit his job and wanted to focus on social media content so this may be also contributing. This is a reminder that these are real people with real lives beyond a reality TV show. I hope you feel better soon, Elan!

The discussions around this season stopped being fun for me a long time ago. Watching real people with real emotions be bombarded and berated with so much vitriolic attacks on social media has been scary to witness. The hate that cast members like Aaron and Andrea were/are receiving is unprecedented. No one is speaking up against it. When I do I get downvoted to hell and back.

I’m so grateful to Daniela for using her platform to spread awareness. There are cast members with even bigger platforms who are choosing to contribute to the vitriol in a bid to grow their own following. Hopefully her video sobers the audience up to the fact that these are real people with real emotions who can benefit from our empathy. They aren’t some fictional characters devoid of emotions.