Just when Love Island USA thought it had moved past one racism scandal, another one landed in the villa. Hours after Casa Amor bombshell Alannah Keyser made her Season 8 debut, old footage allegedly showing the 21-year-old using the N-word began circulating online, sparking a fresh wave of backlash and putting Peacock's hit dating series back under the microscope.
According to Hollywood Life, the blurry clip, reportedly taken from an old Snapchat video, appears to show Keyser singing along to “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, which contains the slur in its lyrics. Additional screenshots allegedly tied to an old TikTok comment have also surfaced, though neither has been independently verified.
Love Island USA already lost one contestant over the exact same issue before Season 8 even began. Vasana Montgomery was dropped from the cast after two videos surfaced showing her using the N-word.
In one clip, she says, "Knock knock, [n-word]" while playing an arcade game. Another showed her singing along to lyrics containing the word. Reports indicated the videos had been posted to private accounts and only surfaced after the cast was announced.
That's only part of the show's growing list of controversies. During Season 7, Yulissa Escobar was removed after podcast clips emerged in which she repeatedly used the slur. Escobar later apologized, saying she had used the word "ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it."
Later in the same season, Cierra Ortega exited the villa after past posts containing an anti-Asian slur resurfaced. In a statement released by her family, they acknowledged the criticism, writing, "We're not here to justify or ignore what's surfaced."
Hosted by Ariana Madix, the Peacock reality juggernaut has become one of streaming's biggest success stories, but viewers have increasingly become the show's unofficial background investigators, digging through contestants' digital histories almost as quickly as new islanders arrive.
As of this writing, neither NBC nor Peacock has commented, and it remains unclear whether Keyser will remain on Love Island USA.
