Booted “Love Island USA” star Alannah Keyser apologized for her past use of the N-word in a TikTok video late Saturday, telling fans that does not “support racism” and “that word is just not in my vocabulary anymore.”
“I’m coming on here to address some things that have been circulating online,” Keyser said. “I do want to begin by addressing the video of me singing along to a Roddy Ricch song that contains a racial slur. I’m sorry to whoever has seen that video and has been offended by it, that was never my intention. The video is from six years ago, and that word is just not in my vocabulary anymore.”
Keyser, a Casa Amor arrival who was paired up with original cast mate Zach Georgiou, was fired from the eighth season of “Love Island USA” on Thursday after the video of her saying the racial slur resurfaced online.
Watch the apology video below:
“I do want to say directly that I do not support racism or discrimination of any kind, and I never have,” she continued. “When I first found out that these things were going around online, it really broke my heart, and I couldn’t do anything about it. But this has definitely been a learning lesson for me, and it sucks that I didn’t get a chance to really show my personality and who I am.”
Keyser is far from the first instance a contestant has been removed during their time on “Love Island USA”: Yulissa Escobar was removed after appearing in just the Season 7 premiere while Cierra Ortega left the villa well into the season after racist posts resurfaced. It happened again this season after the Season 8 cast was revealed and videos surfaced of Vasana Montgomery using a racial slur, though she was removed prior to premiere and she shared a public apology.
While the show’s repeated instances of racist remarks surfacing during a season’s rollout has raised questions about Peacock’s vetting process, the video and posts were only shared publicly after her appearance on the show and were not accessible during the vetting process, according to an individual with knowledge.
The video and social media posts see Keyser using a racial slur, with the video featuring her singing along to a song that included the slur and in the posts using a variation of the slur.
Once the posts surfaced, viewers connected the dots with her behavior during the introductory heart rate challenge that kicked off Casa Amor, during which Keyser limited her physical interactions with the Black men in the cast.
