The Love Island USA Season 8 contestant was officially removed from the villa days after joining Casa Amor. Here’s a complete recap of the controversy and the show’s response.
Alannah Keyser entered the Love Island USA villa on June 21 as a bombshell during the annual Casa Amor twist. The 21-year-old University of Southern California film student from Miami made a grand entrance wearing sparkly angel wings, ready to find love. But her time on the show ended quickly after old videos and social media posts resurfaced online.
Peacock confirmed Keyser’s departure during the Thursday, June 25 episode. Narrator Iain Stirling announced, “Alannah has left Casa Amor” following an ad break. She will no longer appear on the show.
What Happened: The Resurfaced Video and Posts
Hours after Keyser’s Love Island debut, social media users found a video that appeared to show her using the N-word. The clip, reportedly from her Snapchat Story, showed her singing along to Roddy Ricch’s song “The Box” at a party. In the video, she appeared to repeat the lyrics containing a racial slur.
More screenshots also started circulating online. One alleged Snapchat direct message showed Keyser using the N-word while talking to someone. Fans also pointed to an Instagram comment where she allegedly used a variation of the same slur.
The controversy grew as viewers noticed Keyser’s behavior during the Casa Amor heart rate challenge. Social media users pointed out that she gave more attention to white male contestants while showing less effort with Black and mixed-race contestants. She kissed Caleb McDaniel, Bryce Dettloff, and Zach Georgiou, but only gave a neck kiss to KC Chandler and a brief hip shake to Corbin Mims.
Why Production Says They Didn’t Catch It Earlier
Peacock and production sources confirmed that the video and social media posts were not available during the contestant vetting process. According to reports, the material had been shared on private accounts and only became public after Keyser appeared on the show.
A Peacock representative told the New York Times that the footage was not accessible during the series’ vetting process. Production sources told TMZ the same thing, explaining that the offending material would not have been found during background checks.
Once the posts surfaced, producers reportedly started cutting Keyser out of pre-taped episodes as much as possible. Viewers noticed her screen time was reduced in the June 23 episode.
Keyser’s Friend Defends Her
Amid the backlash, Keyser’s friend Nick Rogers spoke out in her defense through a TikTok video. He described Keyser as a caring person who never showed racist behavior around him.
“She is very caring and the nicest person ever. She has never exhibited any racist traits around me at all.” – Nick Rogers, Keyser’s friend
Rogers claimed some screenshots of Keyser’s alleged social media posts could be fake and manipulated using AI.
“I just can’t imagine, me knowing Alannah, her posting that on social media. And we all know with this AI and everything like that, it could be very easy for these types of scenarios to be manipulated.” – Nick Rogers
He also said he couldn’t tell for sure whether Keyser said the slur in the video. He noted that the video appeared to be from 2016 or 2017, a time when he claimed the word was used more freely.
Keyser has not yet made a public statement about her removal from Love Island USA Season 8.
Second Contestant Removed This Season
Keyser’s removal marks the second time this season that a Love Island USA contestant has left over racial slur allegations. Vasana Montgomery, a 25-year-old business owner from Oregon, was removed from the cast before the season premiered.
Montgomery’s old videos surfaced after the Season 8 cast was announced on May 28. The clips appeared to show her using the N-word while singing and cheering at an arcade game. Production sources said those videos were also from private accounts and not available during vetting.
Montgomery later apologized on social media.
“I want to address a couple videos from my teen years that have recently surfaced. In those videos, I used a racial slur. There is no excuse for it, and I am deeply sorry. I take full responsibility for what I said and understand why it has hurt and upset people.” – Vasana Montgomery
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Similar Problems in Past Seasons
Love Island USA has faced similar controversies in recent seasons. During Season 7, Yulissa Escobar left days after the premiere when podcast clips surfaced showing her using racial slurs. Weeks later, Cierra Ortega was removed after racist social media posts targeting Chinese people resurfaced.
Both contestants issued apologies after their departures. The show’s continued issues with past social media content have raised questions about how thoroughly contestants are vetted.
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