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The much-awaited Love Island USA season 7 premiered on June 3. It introduced a fresh cast of 20-somethings, including bombshells, who graced the villa and then the infamous Casa Amor. Ahead of the release of the season, the franchise released a list of contestants that the viewers were supposed to expect.
In this lineup was Yulissa Escobar, a 27-year-old from Miami, Florida. She was booted from the show two episodes into season 7, and Iain Sterling, the host, gave no reason for it. He simply said she had left the villa. With that, one more name was added to the list of islanders who have left the show without getting eliminated by public vote or a consensus.
As per the reports at USA Today, Yulissa Escobar was asked to leave the Love Island USA premises after clips of her using a racial slur surfaced online. These clips are said to have surfaced after people saw Yulissa on the cast lineup, even before the show's release.
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More on Yulissa Escobar's exit from Love Island USA season 7
Among the people who have previously left the show without any specified reason are Noah Purvis from season 2, Leslie Golden from season 3, and Kyle Fraser from season 4. The former had told E! News in October 2020 that he had been booted because they found out that he had worked in p*rnographic content in the past, while the latter two mentioned that they had left for personal reasons.
But when Yulissa left Love Island USA, ardent fans of the show already knew why, because clips of her using the N-word were already being talked about online. While the nature and the origin of these clips are unknown, publications such as USA Today and TMZ have reported that the clip was from a podcast.
The reports state that she used slurs multiple times, something that was unacceptable to the makers of the show. So, they decided to ask her to leave. She was paired with Ace Green back then, and her exit left him single. He found a connection with Chelley later and is now coupled up with her.
"I used a word I never should’ve used"— Love Island USA star Yulissa addresses the controversy
After her exit from the show, Yulissa took to her Instagram to write an apology for using the racial slur in the clips that were floating online. The post was an image that read, "OWNING MY MISTAKE SPEAKING MY TRUTH—YULISSA ESCOBAR."
"I used a word I never should’ve used, a racial slur. I used it ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it," she wrote in the caption.
She added that while she wasn't trying to offend anyone, she understood that intention didn't take away from the impact. She said she understood the trauma that came with it and accepted that it wasn't something she could use at her whim.
She assured the reader that she had changed since then in the way she spoke and carried herself. In the caption, she took accountability for her words and apologized for the hurt they had caused.
While some fan comments on the post commended her for growing and apologizing, others accused her of apologizing just because she was caught.
For more updates on Yulissa Escobar, fans of Love Island USA can follow her on her official Instagram, @yulissaescobar.
