Alannah Keyser is apologizing after a resurfaced racial slur video cut her “Love Island USA” run short and put Peacock’s casting process back under fire.
The Season 8 Casa Amor bombshell addressed the backlash on TikTok after a clip appeared to show her using the N-word while rapping along to Roddy Ricch’s 2019 hit “The Box.” Keyser was pulled from the show on June 25 after the video and alleged old social media posts began circulating online.
“I’m coming on here to address some things that have been circulating online. I do want to begin by addressing the video of me singing along to a Roddy Ricch song that contains a racial slur,” Keyser said. “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 also denied screenshots that allegedly showed her using the slur in old comments, calling them “falsified.” She added, “I do want to say directly that I do not support racism or discrimination of any kind, and I never have. [T]his 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, 21, entered Season 8 as one of six Casa Amor women during the June 21 episode and quickly connected with Zach Georgiou. Four days later, narrator Iain Stirling announced her exit with a short line: “Welcome back to ‘Love Island USA.’ Alannah has left Casa Amor.”
Behind the scenes, production was reportedly already distancing the show from her. Keyser was “mostly edited out” of a June 23 episode after the clip surfaced, with an insider saying, “Producers were disappointed and embarrassed that this has become another mishap.”
Keyser’s father, Stephane Keyser, defended her in an interview with TMZ, calling his daughter an “educated sweetheart” and insisting “there’s no world in which Alannah is a racist.”
However, the issue is bigger than one apology. Keyser is now the second Season 8 contestant removed over resurfaced racial slur content. Vasana Montgomery was dropped before the season premiere after videos surfaced of her using the N-word. In her apology, Montgomery said, “There is no excuse for it, and I am deeply sorry,” adding, “I am embarrassed and disappointed by my words.”
And Season 7 had its own controversy. Yulissa Escobar exited in the second episode after podcast clips resurfaced of her using the N-word. She later apologized, saying she used the word “ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it.”
Cierra Ortega was also removed from Season 7 after old posts resurfaced showing her using an anti-Asian slur. Ortega later apologized to the Asian community and said, “It’s absolutely no excuse, because intent does not excuse ignorance.”
With four contestants across two seasons facing backlash over similar issues, fans are now questioning how these posts keep slipping through the cracks. Production sources have claimed some of the content was private or not publicly accessible during vetting, but viewers are still asking the obvious question: if the internet can find it after one episode, why can’t casting find it before the villa?
For “Love Island USA,” the drama is no longer just about who couples up, who gets dumped, or who wins the $100,000 prize. The bigger conversation is accountability, digital footprints, and whether reality TV’s race to cast viral personalities is moving faster than its ability to properly vet them.
