Alannah Keyser cries over her 'Love Island' exit, backlash to offensive posts
Alannah Keyser is speaking out after being ousted from "Love Island USA."
The Casa Amor cast member, who was removed from the show in the June 25 episode, apologized for offensive social media posts that resurfaced after she joined the show on June 21. In a Snapchat video recording, she appeared to use a racist slur while singing along to Roddy Ricch's 2019 song "The Box."
After posting a video apology on her TikTok on June 28, the 21-year-old college student from Miami then appeared on a June 30 episode of the "One Night with Steiny" podcast, where she discussed the backlash she received over a resurfaced social media video.
"There's a lot of hate. Death threats," she told host Aaron "Steiny" Steinberg and guest Ray J. "Out of the millions of hate comments, I find the good ones. That does that for me. It keeps me going."
Looking ahead, she said she hopes to move on with her life, adding that she is not sure what that looks like yet. She also clarified that there are no other videos of her saying the racial slur.
The "One Wish" singer, 45, defended the reality contestant, telling her that he watched the clip and doesn't believe she "meant it like that."
"I know that you'll be successful and that you'll be great," he told Keyser, who immediately started crying. "Just talking to you right now, I think you're a great person and I think you were raised right, and it's not like that. I really do."
"I didn't want to cry," Keyser replied.
What has Alannah from 'Love Island' said about her offensive remarks?
Shortly after her appearance in the June 21 episode of "Love Island," a video and screenshots of messages purportedly showing Alannah using a racist slur started circulating on social media. In the Snapchat video recording, she appeared to sing along to a song that uses the word.
"I do want to say directly that I do not support racism or discrimination of any kind, and I never have," Keyser said. "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."
"The video is from six years ago, and that word is just not in my vocabulary," she added.
She referred to the experience as a "learning lesson," adding that "it sucks that I didn't get a chance to really show my personality and who I am."
She also said that screenshots of messages purportedly showing her using a racist slur have been falsified.
"What has been shared does not reflect the truth, and it's never been in my character to discriminate against anyone's skin color," she added.
What happened to Alannah on 'Love Island?'
Keyser was on the show for four episodes before she was removed from the Peacock dating show. The only on-air acknowledgement of her exit came courtesy of the franchise's narrator, Iain Stirling, who said that "Alannah has left Casa Amor" 20 minutes into Episode 20.
If her fellow cast members were debriefed about her dismissal or gossiped amongst themselves, it was not shown onscreen. Keyser's arc on the show was centered around her and Zach Georgiou's budding romance, possibly threatening his three-week connection with Kayda Bosse.
Georgiou and Keyser started hot and heavy in the raunchy "hearts on fire" challenge, and the two had a heated kiss in a later Casa Amor challenge.
Before Georgiou could decide whether he wanted to explore things further with Keyser or return to Bosse, the former's journey abruptly ended.
'Love Island USA' past racism controversies
"Love Island USA" has weathered several controversies in recent years, including one that dropped right before this season premiered at the beginning of June.
Vasana Montgomery, a 25-year-old business owner from Oregon, was removed from the starting cast days ahead of the June 2 premiere after a video of Montgomery appearing to use a racial slur while singing along to a song was made public over the weekend.
Similar to Alannah, the Montgomery clip came out right after the cast was revealed on May 28. Days later, Montgomery took to social media to apologize for the videos, which she acknowledged "hurt and upset people."
In Season 7 of "Love Island," which aired from June 2025 to July 2025, two contestants - starting cast member Yulissa Escobar and Episode 2 bombshell Cierra Ortega - were removed during production due to past online activity that involved racial slurs.
Both issued apologies for what they called "offensive" language on social media following their exits.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alannah Keyser cries over her 'Love Island' exit, backlash to offensive posts
Reporting by KiMi Robinson and Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 7:46 PM.