Love Island USA Season 7 has just begun, and we’re already smelling drama—and not the fun, flirty kind. Nope, it’s more like messy internet history and racist receipts being unearthed before the first recoupling. Austin Shepherd, the 26-year-old Islander from Michigan, is catching serious heat online after fans uncovered his alleged TikTok likes full of pro-Trump and anti-Kamala Harris content.
And that’s just the beginning. Someone who claims to know him from school even said he was a bully who used racial slurs like confetti, as a child. Now, turns out, this isn’t the first time Love Island USA has cast someone problematic. After previously watching Hannah Smith travel down the same road, fans are wondering if this is a pattern that the show is using to extract cheap drama.
Love Island USA fans backtrack on Austin Shepherd’s internet history
Just days into Love Island USA Season 7, fans did what the show’s casting team apparently didn’t—they did some actual digging into Austin Shepherd’s past and internet history. Well, what they found about the 26-year-old participant was not exactly giving “summer love energy”. Instead, it seemed super problematic.
Screenshots of Austin Shepherd’s old TikTok likes quickly went viral, showing a digital trail full of Trump-loving, Kamala-bashing posts. Now, let’s not forget, this is reality TV, where every Islander is carefully selected. So how did someone with these very loud internet receipts slip through the cracks?
Fans of the reality TV show are asking why someone with a messy internet history like Austin Shepherd’s was even allowed past the audition phase. And if that wasn’t enough, someone from his past came out with even more tea. A fellow classmate alleged that the 26-year-old used to be a school bully who casually threw racial slurs.
Turns out, this isn’t just a one-off mistake. Fans of Love Island USA are noticing a pattern in their casting. It seems the show is fishing for controversy by bringing polarizing characters like Austin Shepherd to set up the POC contestants to struggle in the show, for cheap tension.
Love Island USA’s problematic pattern of casting alleged racists
Well, let’s dive into the problematic pattern of Love Island USA’s casting. Much like Season 7’s Austin Shepherd, last season the show had Hannah Smith. Turns out, Smith faced allegations of racism and viral backlash, which the reality show conveniently shrugged, refused to address, and moved on.
In September 2024, a month after Love Island USA Season 6 wrapped up, Hannah Smith was arrested for reportedly hurling disgusting, racially-charged threats at a Black female cop. Her words weren’t just ugly—they were dangerous. According to TMZ, Smith openly made violent, race-based threats toward her arresting officer.
Bitch. I can’t wait to kill you, you dumbass, ugly bitch ’cause you’re f*cking fat, and they love us skinny bitches ’cause you’re f*cking Black, and I hate Black bitches so I can’t wait to kill you and your sister, you dumbass bitch.
Based on this report, it’s starting to look like Love Island USA is intentionally adding a little racism to the mix for the sake of drama. It’s not like Hannah Smith suddenly turned racist after ending her run on the reality TV show. So, considering how she must have always been this violent and problematic, it fueled questions about why she was even cast in the first place.
It seems that time and again, people of color on the reality TV show are being forced to navigate microaggressions, coded language, and sometimes flat-out hate, for the sake of extra views and drama.
Love Island USA is currently streaming in the US on Peacock.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
