Yulissa Escobar, who was removed from Love Island USA’s seventh season after recordings of her past use of a racial slur resurfaced, revealed on Instagram on Friday that she has received death threats.
“People swear cancel culture is about accountability,” she wrote in a lengthy June 13 Instagram caption. “But now it’s just viral hate. Packaged for likes. Twisted into clickbait. A trend for clout. Five minutes of fame at someone else’s expense. This week, I received death threats. Messages saying I should kill myself. All over a video from 2021.”
The real estate professional from Miami, Florida, added that any claims that the footage is actually from 2024 are “lies” and that the footage doesn’t define her.
“But how the internet treats people? That says everything,” she wrote. “This isn’t ‘woke.’ It’s abuse. You guys forget there’s a real person behind the screen. With feelings, a family, a daughter, a sister, a future. And some people don’t survive this kind of hate. That’s the scariest part. Cyberbullying is violence. Period.”
Escobar told Instagram followers that she’s growing and healing and that no one deserves to be erased over a mistake.
“For the ones who didn’t make it — may you rest in peace,” she wrote. “For the ones who are scared to speak — I got you. And for myself — because I’m done staying quiet: My name is Yulissa Escobar, and this is not where my story ends. One mistake does not define a human. And that moment? Was four years ago. I’ve clearly grown, and I’m just getting started.”
Escobar previously apologized on Instagram for “podcast clips from years ago.”
She wrote at the time: “In those clips, I used a word I never should’ve used, a racial slur. I used it ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it. I wasn’t trying to be offensive or harmful, but I recognize now that intention doesn’t excuse impact. And the impact of that word is real. It’s tied to generations of trauma, and it is not mine to use.”
Love Island USA, Season 7, Every Night Except Wednesdays, 9/8c, Peacock