During the Sunday, July 6, episode of “Love Island USA,” narrator Iain Stirling announced that Cierra Ortega had left the show due to a “personal situation.” Prior to her shocking exit, many fans called for Ortega’s removal after discovering that she used a slur for Chinese people in several social media posts.

A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty, argues that Love Island USA season 7’s apparent removal of Cierra Ortega due to her past usage of an anti-Asian slur is exposing how much of the general public is still dismissive of anti-Asian hate.