Their viral moments, reads at the fire-pit, and ability to shape pop culture in their image are the stuff of marketing executives' dreams. Within the timespan of a summer, Season 8’s core four—Trinity Tatum, Kayda Bosse, Aniya Harvey, and Melanie Moreno—gained millions of followers across social media platforms, signed deals with major talent agencies, and received widespread coverage across mainstream media publications. The Love Island USA effect is not limited to these four women.
The show has also brought notoriety and fame to their male partners and other Islanders, as well. But the breakout stars of the Peacock dating series are experiencing these phenomena on another level, with built-in fanbases that follow and support every campaign they take part in, both on and off social media. In a landscape where fame equates to followers and followers equate to money, these four Black women are raking in the profits and new opportunities their newfound fame has brought, and Black women are to thank for it.
But even as their fans prop them up, it often seems as though they are taken for granted by other Islanders, those cast members’ fanbases, and ITV America and Peacock, which have seen their bottom lines grow significantly as a direct result of the dating franchise. Despite their success, Tatum, Bosse, Harvey, and Moreno have been subjected to constant anti-Black racism and sexism, and the support network that should be there to protect them has been conspicuously absent: There’s been no statement of support or condemnation from the networks, while cast members defend their mistreatment of the core four rather than have their backs. What’s more, the harm to these women is experienced by Black women watching the show as vicarious racism—an indirect exposure to racial and gender discrimination—that elicits feelings of fear, sadness, and anger. (As of publication, representatives from Peacock and ITV America had not responded to a request for comment.) On the Love Island USA Season 8 reunion, which aired Aug. 31 on Peacock, mistreatment on social media was a recurring theme among the Islanders, specifically the Black Islanders, who spoke about receiving death threats, racial slurs, and discriminatory harassment from fans of the Fiji-set dating franchise.
Last year, breakout star Olandria Carthen tearfully spoke about the racism and bullying she experienced from fans of Huda Mustafa, including one who photoshopped her face onto the body of George Floyd. Serena Page, winner of Love Island USA Season 6, told podcast host Kamie Crawford that she talked to production staff about their decision to cast male Islanders who were not attracted to Black women, thus reinforcing the stereotype that Black women are undesirable. And these messages are sent to a massive audience: the most recent season accumulated nearly 19 billion hours of viewing—a streaming record for Peacock.
It is no secret that reality television has historically been unwelcoming and unsafe for Black women. Nor is Love Island USA the first unscripted television show to have a toxic fandom. But the lack of protections for these stars, in addition to being an ethical lapse with serious ramifications for their mental health, could pose a threat to the future of the franchise.
Fans are loyal to Islanders more than to the show itself, and if the show’s biggest stars are no longer in its orbit, it becomes harder to keep their devotees in that orbit too. The trio of friends nicknamed PPG—Leah Kateb, Serena Page, and JaNa Craig—who catapulted the unscripted series into fame in Season 6, have publicly distanced themselves from the dating show. Carthen took a similar tack after last year’s reunion.
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