It seems Cierra Ortega’s (rumored) plan to become a mega-influencer via Love Island USA has backfired big time. The Los Angeles-based content creator, who started out as a season 7 fan favorite, is now facing a wave of backlash that’s costing her, like, hundreds of thousands of followers. Why is the internet suddenly turning on her? It pains me to report that Cierra allegedly used a racial slur in a past Instagram post.

Cierra seemed over the moon to be part of the experience (which makes sense considering her past Love Island-themed birthday and her influencer aspirations). But now, I’m not sure how much longer she’s gonna last on the show. In just a few days, she’s lost more than 200k Instagram followers, and some Love Island fans made a Change.org petition to remove her from the show entirely. Since she’s still on the show without access to the internet, Cierra hasn’t addressed fans’ concerns yet.

So what exactly happened? Here’s a breakdown of Cierra Ortega’s racial slur controversy.

Love Island Cierra Racial Slur Controversy Explained

Why Is Cierra Ortega Losing Followers?

Image Credit: Getty

Like countless reality stars and influencers before her, Cierra’s getting canceled for a racist social media post that’s resurfaced. In the last few days, fans came across what appears to be a past Instagram story, and it’s all over Reddit and TikTok now. In the hurtful story post, Cierra shared a photo of herself getting Botox. “Botox isn’t for everyone but I love it for me!!!” she wrote in her caption. The Love Island star said she was getting a mini brow lift and allegedly used the C word (a slur against people of East Asian heritage) when explaining why.

Fans are expressing their anger and disappointment in TikTok videos and Reddit comments. Some even created a “Send Cierra Home” petition on Change.org that’s up to nearly 5,000 signatures. “Cierra said a slur, but in the worst way possible,” the petition reads. “She hated the fact that her eyes looked ‘asian,’ so much so that she said a slur while sharing how she got botox to fix this feature that many of us have.” The petition calls for Love Island to “hold Cierra accountable for her blatant racism.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first racist social media post incident this season. Remember when Yulissa Escobar abruptly left the island with no explanation? That’s because videos surfaced of the former contestant using the racial slur while podcasting, and Peacock took swift action. The network hasn’t responded to Cierra’s offensive post yet.

Well, Cierra is still on Love Island as of now, but her future on the show seems uncertain.