Vasana Montgomery, a 25-year-old from Beaverton, Oregon, who appeared on Season 8 of Love Island USA and was summarily ejected for using the N-word in a social media video, publicly apologized on Wednesday.
“I would like to highlight some videos from my teenage years that have recently resurfaced,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “In those videos, I used a racial slur. There is no excuse and I deeply apologize. I am ashamed and disappointed in my words. I take full responsibility for my words and understand why they hurt and upset people. Since then, I have grown a lot as a person and have taken the time to I educated myself, listened, learned, and understood more deeply the impact words have. That growth doesn’t erase my mistakes, and I don’t ask anyone for forgiveness. I’m grateful for their actions, but I also believe that I can grow, learn, and get better. I am truly sorry to those I have hurt or disappointed. ”
Montgomery was included in the cast of Season 8 of Love Island USA, which was announced by Peacock on May 28, but by May 30 she was removed after two videos, previously available only on private accounts, surfaced. One shows her saying, “Knock knock, n—-,” and the other shows her rapping along to lyrics that include the n-word.
Montgomery’s firing marks the second year in a row that Peacock has had to remove a contestant who used the N-word, following Yulissa Escobar in Season 7. Later that same season, Sierra Ortega was also fired, this time for using a racial slur against Asian people.
