Jeremiah Brown is speaking out about Cierra Ortega’s unexpected departure from Love Island USA.
During the July 6 episode of the Peacock series, narrator Iain Stirling revealed that Cierra—who had been paired with Nic Vansteenberghe—left the show due to a “personal situation.”
Following the announcement, Jeremiah responded to the resurfaced social media posts allegedly showing Cierra using a racial slur against Asian people.
“I don’t condone no type of racial slurs,” the 25-year-old said during a TikTok Live on July 7. “That racial stuff is weird to me. I have been dealing with that my whole life. Racial stuff is never cool.”
Shortly after, Jeremiah posted several videos showing him reuniting with fellow eliminated Islanders Austin Shepard, Charlie Georgiou, Hannah Fields, and Belle-A Walker. Belle-A also addressed Cierra’s controversy on social media.
“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 shared via her Instagram Stories on July 6. “When I first saw what my fellow Islander said on their social media pages, I was incredibly heartbroken.”
She added, “But I wanted to wait until they left the villa and were able to address the situation, genuinely apologize, and commit to learning from the experience, before deciding how our relationship would look moving forward.”
Belle-A, who was the first contestant eliminated from the villa on June 8, also explained how her perspective evolved.
“As screenshots continued to surface, it became clear that I could no longer support this person, and made the decision to unfollow them a couple of days ago,” she wrote. “Asian hate is oftentimes overlooked and dismissed. But being a first-generation American, I have personally witnessed and experienced how real and hurtful comments like these are.”
Although Cierra, 25, has not yet made a public statement regarding the controversy, her parents addressed the situation on her Instagram Story on July 6.
They noted that their daughter was still in Fiji and urged the public to show empathy during what they described as “one of the most painful weeks” of their lives.
“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.”
They continued, “The threats. The cruel messages. The attacks on her family, her friends, even her supporters, it’s heartbreaking. It’s uncalled for. And no one deserves that kind of hate, no matter what mistake they’ve made.”
