As a Black woman, I found this season’s Love Island USA to be uncomfortably real

In the MSNBC opinion piece, the author reflects on how Love Island USA Season 7 routinely mischaracterized Olandria Carthen and her fellow Black contestant Chelley, showing how familiar racial biases play out in reality TV. Despite their poise, thoughtfulness, and emotional intelligence in the villa, both women were repeatedly labeled as “mean girls” and unfairly villainized by producers and portions of the audience in ways that mirror real-world stereotypes about Black women. Olandria’s struggle to express genuine emotion without being framed as angry or aggressive highlights a broader discomfort with seeing Black women as complex and authentic rather than caricatures, and the season became painful to watch for some viewers because of how that bias manifested on and off screen