What Happened to Yulissa on Love Island USA? The Real Reason She Was Kicked Off the Show
Jason Pham
Warning: Love Island USA Season 7 spoilers ahead. It was the news fans were waiting for. Yulissa Escobar, a 27-year-old from Miami, Florida, was officially kicked off of Love Island USA Season 7 after her racist videos resurfaced. But what happened to Yulissa on Love Island USA and were the videos the only reason for her exit? Well, the show’s long history of facing racist allegations could have played a role in producers cutting short Yulissa’s stay at the villa.
What happened to Yulissa on Love Island USA?
Narrator Iain Stirling announced Yulissa had left Love Island USA 18 minutes in Season 7, Episode 2. “Welcome back to Love Island USA. Yulissa has left the villa,” Stirling said. At the time, of her exit, Yulissa was coupled up with Ace Greene, a 22-year-old from Los Angeles, California.
Related: All the Love Island USA couples still together
While Love Island USA didn’t explain why Yulissa exited the series, fans speculate that it was because of a resurfaced video of Yulissa using the N-word in a past podcast interview. “You fuck my n—? Perfect. But now I’m fucking my n—. He’s my n—,” Yulissa said in the interview, which has been reposted on TikTok.
The video resurfaced at the same time that fans reposted another video of Yulissa confirming she voted for President Donald Trump. “I’m here looking at my followers and I lost about 600 followers just because I’m a Trump supporter. Everyone is entitled to their own fucking opinion,” Yulissa said in the video. Fans also reposted a photo she shared of her in a “Make America Great Again” hat. Along with Yulissa, fans also exposed her Love Island USA co-star Austin Shepard for being a Trump supporter after reposting his TikTok likes, including several pro-Trump posts and anti-Kamala Harris videos. “Black man destroys black woman who said she’s voting for Kamala ‘because she’s a black woman,'” read one alleged TikTok video Austin liked. (Austin has since deleted his TikTok profile, which was under the handle @scottdisickstan12.)
“did the casting producers even try??? like her and austin…,” a user commented on a TikTok repost of the interview. “Baby her and Austin don’t even need to unpack😭 but at the same time I want them to get to the tweet challenge,” another user wrote. One more user commented, “So we’re voting her FIRST then Austin. Not only do we got a list but also superiority.”
While Yulissa hasn’t commented about her Love Island USA exit, at the time of writing, she did disable comments on her Instagram after the video of her saying the N-word went viral. The last post Yulissa’s family shared on her Instagram before her exit from Love Island USA was a photo of her and her Love Island USA cast mates—Chelley Bissainthe, Olandria Carthen, Belle-A Walker, and Huda Mustafa—which they captioned with: “you @yulissaescobar and this fit” with a fire emoji and a flaming heart emoji.
After Yulissa’s exit from Love Island USA, fans commended the series for kicking her off the show. “‘Welcome to Love Island USA, Yulissa has left the villa’ etfhugchyrdx the way no one gave af even the narrator #LoveIslandUSA,” a user wrote on X. Another user tweeted, “To the person that found that clip of Yulissa on that podcast. Thank you for your service omg!!!” One more user wrote, “‘Welcome back to Love Island, Yulissa has left the villa.’ And we ain’t even have do anything y’all. YES. #LoveIslandUSA.”
The drama around Yulissa also came after Love Island USA producers, Jasmine Crestwell and Alex Rinks, sued NBCUniversal, which owns Peacock, and ITV Studios for race and gender discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation, whistleblower retaliation, and wrongful termination.
Crestwell and Rinks claimed in legal documents obtained by Radar Online that new producers hired to boost Love Island USA‘s ratings had a history of racism and abusive practices. “The villa was also unsanitary. Islanders generally were restricted to specific portable toilets connected to their rooms. These toilets were rarely cleaned and often broken and unusable. Showers in the villa’s bathrooms were clogged and overflowing,” the suit read.
The two also claimed that contestants were deprived food and sleep to create drama. “Producers further intentionally scheduled testimonial filming during food service, meaning Islanders were often pulled away from eating to film their testimonial segments; when they returned, food service was over,” the complaint read.
In regards to the racism claims, Crestwell reported that she complained about the alleged mistreatment of several islander, including Season 4 contestant Sereniti Springs, one of the “few women of color on the show.”
She alleged that other producers called Springs a “bitch,” “dumb,” “and disgusting” while “repeatedly interrupting or obstructing her ability to forge connections with male cast members, thus sabotaging her chances on the show.”
The suit continued, “Ms. Crestwell observed that the UK show’s pattern of mistreatment towards contestants of color continued into Season 4. From the first day of filming, Bush took steps to prevent Islander Sereniti Springs, a Black woman, from making connections with male cast members. Bush instructed all Producers on an internal walkie system, ‘don’t let Sereniti talk to any men.’ that night, Bush sent a list of ‘couples’ who had spoken on Day 1 to inform the following day’s production choices: Ms. Springs was the only Islander not on the list.”
Crestwell also claimed that other producers “openly commented on video feeds of female Islanders showering and having sex, creating a deeply uncomfortable work environment for women on set.”
The suit continued, “The entire villa was equipped with cameras and Islanders were filmed 24 hours a day, even while showering, and producers had access to a video feed. While producers were instructed not to watch this footage, certain producers disregarded this instruction and not only watched this intimate footage but discussed it openly on set, including by making disparaging comments about female contestants’ bodies.”
The suit added, “For instance, one Producer watched streams of nude female contestants and directed a female Producer to “look at her tits,” commenting that a contestant’s “boob job” made her “boobs look[] too hard.”
The suit continued, “Executive producers also pressured female islanders to engage in sexual relationships without regard for their personal preferences or genuine consent.”
Love Island USA streams on Peacock.
