Last week, “Love Island USA’s” Season 7 cast member Huda Mustafa and her boyfriend Louis Russell, who has appeared on numerous reality dating shows, were accused of racism.

Mustafa and Russell were on a live stream when someone called them. They had picked up the phone, and the caller then proceeded to call fellow “Love Island USA’s” Olandria Carthen the N-word. Both Mustafa and Russell began to laugh before hanging up the phone. This caused public outrage and many people on various social media platforms began calling out Mustafa and Russell for laughing at Carthen being called a slur, demanding that Mustafa be pulled from various brand deals and that she apologize.

Both Russell and Mustafa took to Instagram, saying they did not hear Carthen’s name and only heard the slur, which is why they laughed. But many still criticized them, asking, “Why would you laugh at a racial slur?,” raising the question of whether the mention of a racial slur was funny to them.

Soon after, Carthen took to Instagram about how she felt about the livestream. Stating that words like that carry pain and continue the cycle of racism, she also anticipated surface-level apologies, which would result in the situation dying out in a few days, which it did. However, Carthen also took this hurtful event and turned it into a moment where people could take action. She shared links for organizations and foundations to help uplift the Black community, such as the NAACP, UNCF and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

After this post, her partner, fellow contestant Nicolas Vansteenberghe, posted on Snapchat the same organizations and foundations, noting that racism is never okay. Other contestants of the show, such as Chelley, Jalen, Clarke, Iris and Amaya, also came out with statements, denouncing racism.

Mustafa put out another statement apologizing to Carthen; however, the damage had already been done. One of Mustafa’s biggest brand deals, Huda Beauty, ended their partnership. However, her fans continue to go after the other “Love Island” contestants, including some from Season 6, leaving racist remarks due to their personal statements condemning Mustafa’s actions.

Mustafa’s initiatives have caused her harm; however, she continues to prove that she does not take full responsibility for what she has done. She continues to allow her fans to make racist comments without doing anything about it. But Carthen has managed to show that she would not let those remarks get in the way of her goals and will continue to show resilience.