We've Got the Tea About Cierra's Necklace Controversy on 'Love Island'

Fans want to know what the necklace controversy is after Cierra Ortega left Love Island USA. Cierra was booted off the reality TV show after it was revealed that she used a racial slur against Asians in a video on social media. Cierra lost hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram after an Instagram post surfaced featuring her using the racial slur in 2024.

Cierra was talking about having Botox, and she used the racial slur "Ch--ky" to describe her eyes in the video. The terms "Ch--ky" and "Ch--k" are racist slurs for Chinese people or people of Asian descent. The hashtags #DumpCierra and #CierraOut began trending after the comments were revealed.

Love Island USA's narrator, Iain Stirling, announced her exit on July 6, claiming she'd left “due to a personal situation,” per the Associated Press.

Cierra apologized in a video shared on Instagram after she returned home from Love Island USA, but the backlash continued due to the necklace she wore while giving her apology. She said she'd been back home for "about 48 hours" and was addressing the news that "came to light" while she was in Fiji filming the show.

“I am deeply, truly, honestly so sorry," she said. "I 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.”

Cierra apologized to the entire Asian community for her ignorance and claimed that she had no idea that the offensive term was a racial slur.

"This is not an apology video, this is an accountability video," she added. "If you want to know that you are heard and that I’m sorry and that I will move differently, I promise you, that’s what will happen."

The former reality TV star added that her family has had ICE called on them as a result, and she has also received death threats.

Unfortunately for Cierra, fans called her out for the necklace she was wearing in her "accountability" video.

A Reddit user noted that the necklace Cierra wore is a Guanyin necklace. Guanyin is a sacred figure in East Asia known for compassion and mercy, and the user called out the reality TV star for irony and cultural appropriation.

"Can we talk about Cierra wearing a Guanyin necklace during her apology? As an Asian and Buddhist, I immediately noticed the necklace the first time she wore it in the villa before her posts started gaining traction," they wrote.

"For context — Guanyin (also spelled Guan Yin) is a Buddhist deity who represents compassion and mercy. She’s literally one of the most sacred figures in East Asian Buddhism. People wear her image as a sign of deep faith, spiritual protection, and cultural identity — not as a fashion statement … especially not as an accessory in a bikini."

"So wearing that (and a shirt that said empath) while apologizing for being racist toward Asians feels incredibly off," they continued. "Like, she just got called out for disrespecting a group of people, and then she turns around and puts their sacred religious figure on her chest during her public apology?"

Another fan on X wrote, "Cierra wearing a Chinese Buddha jade necklace in her apology video is crazy work."

Cierra hasn't addressed the necklace controversy.

Love Island streams every day except Wednesdays on Peacock at 9 p.m. EST.