Love Island USA alum Huda Mustafa has apologized for the racial slur controversy involving former co-star Hollandria Carsen.
Mustafa, 25, and her boyfriend, fellow reality personality Louis Russell, were recently livestreaming when someone called and used the N-word to refer to Carsen.
The couple burst into laughter and immediately hung up.
After he collected himself, Russell repeated, “Hey,” in a disappointed tone, before Mustafa asked, “Hey, what the hell? What did they say? They said some nasty words.”
Russell, 24, agreed, adding: “They said some awful things.”
The moment quickly went viral, with Mustafa claiming on his Instagram Story that he and Russell “couldn’t hear each other very well” but “immediately hung up” after recording a “racial slur”.
She added that it was “awkward and inappropriate” for the two to laugh, insisting it was “wrong to say”.
As for Russell, who is Black, he posted a statement of his own on his Instagram Story, describing his “dismayed reaction to a very disturbing situation.”
The “Too Hot to Handle” and “Perfect Match” alum called the whistleblower’s actions “harmful and dangerous,” adding that he and his girlfriend are “so proud of the way they’ve used[their]platform to represent the voices of people who are often underrepresented, especially on TV.”
Carsen, 27, also reacted to the situation on her Instagram Story, telling her followers that “words like that are never acceptable, never in anger or in jest,” because “words like that hurt for generations.”
She went on to call for “real accountability and recognition,” and then encouraged “those who participated in the stream and their followers to demonstrate their true commitment to anti-racism by donating to organizations and foundations dedicated to educating and uplifting this community, including UNCF, the NAACP, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.”
Following the backlash for his unconventional initial remarks, Mustafa returned to his Instagram Stories and said he had taken time to “reflect and gather[his]thoughts” in order to “take more full responsibility for[his]actions.”
Mustafa acknowledged the “seriousness” of the words in question and apologized directly to Carsen for his “instant reaction,” which “happened not because I thought the words or the situation was strange, but because I was caught off guard.”
She claimed it was a “nervous and unpleasant” reaction, but admitted it was still “inappropriate”.
Mustafa concluded his message by pledging a “personal donation to the NAACP.”
