Love Island USA bosses axe contestant after alleged use of racial slur

Days ahead of the launch of Love Island USA's eighth series, producers have pulled a member of the cast over the alleged use of a racial slur.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed over the weekend that Vasana Montgomery would no longer appear on the hit dating show after it emerged that she'd allegedly used a racial slur online.

The Beaverton, Oregon, influencer and business owner is believed to have used the N-word in a series of previous social media posts that have since resurfaced.

Peacock producers haven't yet confirmed whether Montgomery had already entered the plush Fiji villa villa for the commencement of the series when she was removed.

The news comes after the new line-up of 12 fresh-faced contestants was announced on Thursday (28 May).

Vasana Montgomery was announced in the Love Island USA line-up last week (Peacock)

Following the reveal, two damning videos supposedly showing 25-year-old Montgomery using the slur began circulating online, prompting immediate backlash from fans of the show.

In one video, cited by Variety, she uses a slur while playing a video game at an arcade. In another, she is seen in a car, rapping along to a song that contains the word in its lyrics.

In her showreel, which featured in the trailer for the new instalment, she described herself as the 'whole package', given that she runs her own beauty and aesthetics business and lives alone.

She also said in the trailer: "If you were to ask my friends what my type is, they'd show you the world map."

Montgomery hasn't yet shared a statement (Instagram/@vasana_vibes)

This comes after two contestants were removed from last year's line-up after it was found they'd also used similar slurs.

A video appeared at the time showing Yulissa Escobar, an original cast member, using the N-word, after which producers removed her from the villa.

Escobar later apologised for 'using a word I had no right in using'.

Several weeks later, after similarly controversial social media posts emerged, Cierra Ortega was also taken out of the lineup.

Comedian Iain Stirling, who voices over the series, explained at the time that she'd 'left the villa due to a personal situation'.

Montgomery is said to have used a slur in two separate videos (Instagram/@vasana_vibes)

Ortega later shared a five-minute 'accountability video' apologising to the 'entire Asian community', adding that she 'had no idea that the word held as much pain, as much harm, and came with the history that it did, or I never would have used it'.

The posts involved in both incidents had been shared on the pair's privately owned accounts and not shared publicly until after the seventh series had been announced, meaning producers were previously unable to vet them.

Tyla contacted Montgomery and Peacock for comment.