Love Island USA has removed a cast member from its upcoming eighth season just days before the show's premiere on Peacock after private videos surfaced showing the contestant using the N-word.
Vasana Montgomery, a 25-year-old salon owner from Beaverton, Oregon, was announced as one of the original 12 islanders heading into the villa on 28 May 2026. Within two days of that announcement, two videos had circulated online appearing to show her using the racial slur. In one clip she appears to say it while rapping along to a song in a car. In the other she says it while playing a shooting game at an arcade.
Production sources confirmed to TMZ that Montgomery will no longer be on the show, which is set to premiere on 2 June. A Peacock spokesperson noted that the videos appeared to be privately owned and were not publicly accessible during the show's vetting process, which is why they were not picked up before the cast announcement was made.
Montgomery has not publicly addressed her removal. She is the owner of Vanity Square Studios, a beauty salon in Salem, Oregon, which offers services including permanent makeup, facials, lash extensions and tattoos. The business won Best of the Willamette Valley in 2025.
The incident is the second consecutive year that Love Island USA has had to remove a cast member before filming for the same reason. During season 7, Yulissa Escobar was removed after entering the villa when clips of her using the same slur resurfaced. Later in that same season, Cierra Ortega was also removed for a separate racial slur incident. The back-to-back controversies have prompted serious questions about the show's vetting processes and whether the production company is doing enough to screen contestants' full social media history before announcing them publicly.
The remaining eleven islanders will enter the villa when Love Island USA season 8 premieres on Peacock on 2 June 2026, hosted by Ariana Madix.
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