Love Island USA has removed contestant Alannah Keyser from the show after a video allegedly showing her using a racial slur resurfaced online. Keyser, 21, is the fourth woman to be removed from the series over a racism scandal in approximately the last year.
Production sources indicated that Keyser was edited out of pre-taped episodes as much as possible once the video became public. While she could not be entirely removed from all scenes, her screen time was significantly reduced in episodes immediately following the controversy. Producers reportedly stated that they were "disappointed and embarrassed" by the incident, which marks another controversy for the dating series. Keyser's appearance on the show began with her debut at Casa Amor on Sunday, but shortly after, clips of her allegedly singing along to a song containing the N-word and a screenshot of a past Instagram comment also allegedly using the term circulated online.
Fans voiced their demands for Keyser's removal on social media platforms like X, with some questioning whether production conducted adequate background checks.
Keyser's father, Stephane, defended his daughter, telling TMZ that the claims were unfounded and described her as an "educated sweetheart." He added that the family has friends from diverse backgrounds and that the backlash his daughter is facing is unwarranted. A friend of Keyser, Nick Rogers, also posted a TikTok video defending her, claiming that the screenshots were "fake" and suggesting that AI manipulation could be a factor. Rogers also stated that he could not definitively discern if Keyser used the slur in the video and noted that the context might have been different in the past. He concluded by saying he believed Keyser to be a caring person who had never exhibited racist traits around him.
This is not the first time Love Island USA has faced racism-related controversies. In May, contestant Vasana Montgomery was removed days before the season premiere after videos surfaced allegedly showing her using the N-word. Production sources told TMZ that these videos were private, which is why they were not discovered during the pre-casting screening process.
Last year, contestant Yulissa Escobar was removed from the show after clips from years prior resurfaced showing her using the N-word. Escobar later apologized on Instagram, stating she used the word "ignorantly" without fully understanding its historical weight and pain, and that she had since taken time to reflect, learn, and grow.
Another contestant from the previous season, Cierra Ortega, was also removed after past Instagram posts resurfaced, including two instances where she allegedly used a slur offensive to Chinese people. Her parents released a statement expressing the difficulty of the situation and asking for compassion, patience, and basic human decency for their daughter. One post from January 2015 and another from February 2023 reportedly showed Ortega using a variation of the slur to describe her smile.