That was fast.
Yulissa Escobar was ousted from Peacock’s Love Island USA in the second episode of the season, after past racist remarks of Escobar, dubbed one of the show’s two “MAGA contestants,” resurfaced online.
At around the 18-minute mark during last night’s episode, narrator Iain Stirling announced her departure as the islanders woke up from their first night in the villa: “Welcome back to Love Island USA. Yulissa has left the villa.”
Although the show did not offer any further explanation, many believe Escobar’s exit is due to the discovery of podcast clips where the contestant uses the n-word twice.
Shortly after Peacock announced her casting for the seventh season, people uncovered the instances of Escobar using the racial slur, causing a massive wave of online backlash that only intensified in the days leading up to the premiere.
Viewers began to flood Escobar’s social media account with criticism, and a friend’s defensive comment— “Lol… y’all act like you never said the N word before, stop being so f--king sensitive”—only fueled the outrage more. By premiere night, many fans were already calling for her removal.
Although people are praising Love Island USA for removing Escobar, the announcement was so casual and quick that some viewers apparently completely missed it, not noticing her absence until the recoupling ceremony at the end of the episode.
Viewers also speculated that the production team asked Escobar to leave in the middle of the night, due to the sunrise announcement of her exit. One social media user joked on X about “Love Island producers waking up Yulissa in the middle of the night to evict her a--."
Austin Shepard, another islander on the new season, also received backlash due to his social media presence, with internet sleuths uncovering his alleged TikTok account where he liked several Pro-Donald Trump and anti-Kamala Harris videos. The account has now been deleted.
Escobar’s ouster comes on the heels of a contestant from Love Island U.K. being removed from the show’s lineup days before filming after he was arrested on suspicion of connection to an attack that involved a machete. (Kyle Ashman, the 22-year-old in question, denied involvement.)
We’re just playing reality TV Mad Libs at this point.
