Days after being pulled from “Love Island USA” Season 8, Vasana Montgomery addressed resurfaced teen videos in which she used a racial slur, apologizing on Instagram and saying she understands why her words hurt people.
A watch party can feel like celebration—music, phones lifted, friends leaning in. But for “Love Island USA” viewers, the show’s Season 8 premiere on June 2 carried a different kind of attention two days earlier: a cast change that came without an explanation.
Vasana Montgomery, announced as one of twelve original contestants, had been removed from the lineup after older videos resurfaced showing her using a racial slur while singing along to a song. On June 3, she broke her silence with an apology, saying the clips came from her teen years.
“I want to address a couple videos from my teen years that have recently resurfaced,” Montgomery wrote in an Instagram story. “In those videos, I used a racial slur. There is no excuse for it, and I am deeply sorry.”
The timing mattered. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Montgomery had been pulled before the June 2 premiere. The show’s cast reveal had landed on May 28, and it was in the days that followed that a past video surfaced.
Montgomery’s statement extended beyond the apology itself. She said she is “embarrassed and disappointed by my words,” adding that she takes “full responsibility for what I said and understand why it has hurt and upset people.”
“Since then, I have grown a lot as a person and taken the time to educate myself, listen, learn, and better understand the impact that language can have,” she said. “That growth does not erase my mistake, and I am not asking anyone to excuse it.”
She closed by saying she believes people should be held accountable, while also emphasizing growth and learning. “To anyone I hurt or disappointed, I am truly sorry.”
The way “Love Island USA” handled Montgomery’s exit added another layer of friction for viewers. When the show premiered on June 2, it did not mention her removal. What appeared on screen was a smaller opening group: instead of twelve original Islanders, the lineup shrank by two.
Producers also made a parallel change on the male side. After pulling Montgomery from the lineup of girls, they opted to take one male contestant out of the first slate as well, leaving the group at ten.
Gabriel Vasconcelos, a model from Miami, was introduced as the first male bombshell of the season alongside female bombshell Kayda Bosse at the end of the first episode.
Last season, the show’s handling of similar incidents was clearer—if only because multiple exits happened midstream. Two castmates left after discoverable evidence of past racial slur use emerged. Yulissa Escobar was removed a week into the show’s run after clips of her using a racial slur on a podcast surfaced. Later. Cierra Ortega was ousted from the villa just before the finale after multiple past social media posts surfaced showing her using a racist slur.
In those earlier cases, narrator Iain Stirling addressed the exits with little to no explanation. With Montgomery, the silence from the broadcast meant viewers were left to piece together what changed—first through the absence, then through the apology she issued the following day.
Taken together. the sequence is stark: resurfaced language from the past led to an exit before the June 2 premiere. while the show’s on-screen framing stayed tight-lipped. On June 3. Montgomery moved into the spotlight herself—apologizing directly. taking responsibility. and drawing a line between learning now and the harm her words had already caused.
Vasana Montgomery Love Island USA Season 8 racial slur apology cast removal Instagram story reality TV controversy