The Love Island “racism” allegations are no longer just fan complaints; it’s a matter for the court now. A lawsuit accused the show of conspiring against Black contestants and firing two producers for defending a Black cast member named Sereniti Springs.
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Jasmine Crestwell and Alex Rinks, ex-Love Island USA producers, blew the whistle on their former colleagues and employers for manipulating and mistreating the stars. Radar Online obtained documents from Crewstwell and Rinks’ lawsuit against NBCUniversal, ITV Studios, and other producers on the show.
We have been saying Love Island producers are racist for years and everybody was like “no, just all the black girls not being chosen is a coincidence.” I love to be validated but at what cost #loveisland https://t.co/JIJGLKMlU6
— taylor (@filmmakerflying) July 21, 2023
Behind the reality tv show’s neon-colored fun and sexy games, it’s allegedly as toxic as the dating scene IRL. The lawsuit describes multiple instances of sexual harassment, racism, and sexism. Crestwell and Rinks also accused the defendants of whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination.
The hit U.K.-based show is like musical chairs with a steady stream of new hot singles cycling into a Love Island villa. If an Islander isn’t “coupled up” with another cast member, they’re at risk of going home. In 2019, the franchise came to the U.S. but struggled. By 2022, its new network NBC brought in U.K. producers from the original “to bolster ratings for the U.S. franchise’s fourth season.”
Nasty Work: Lawsuit Claims Love Island Villa Was Allegedly A “Dilapidated Ranch,” With “Inoperable Bathrooms” And Peeping Toms
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Of course, producers pull strings to stir up drama, but the lawsuit hints they raised hell and had the Islanders living in it, too. Although viewers see a luxurious “villa,” the suit said it’s “in reality, a ramshackle, dilapidated ranch with inadequate plumbing and inoperable bathrooms.”
“The villa was also unsanitary. Islanders generally were restricted to specific portable toilets connected to their rooms. These toilets were rarely cleaned and often broken and unusable. Showers in the villa’s bathrooms were clogged and overflowing,” according to the complaint.
It sounds like nothing in the bathrooms worked, but the cameras producers allegedly used to spy on female contestants in the shower. Crewtwell and Rinks said they ” openly commented on video feeds of female Islanders showering and having sex, creating a deeply uncomfortable work environment for women on set.
“The entire villa was equipped with cameras and Islanders were filmed 24 hours a day, even while showering, and producers had access to a video feed. While producers were instructed not to watch this footage, certain producers disregarded this instruction and not only watched this intimate footage but discussed it openly on set, including by making disparaging comments about female contestants’ bodies,” the ex-producers claimed.
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One of the obvious rules was to let the cast have that slight bit of privacy. but the lawsuit accuses one Producer nudging a female collegue to discuss an Islander’s “boob job” while she was nude. They also allegedly demanded hookups and discussed it on the video feeds.
“Executive producers also pressured female islanders to engage in sexual relationships without regard for their personal preferences or genuine consent,” the complaint continued.
Producers are also accused of “sabotaging” Serenti Springs, one of the few Black women on the show.
See what Crestwell and Rinks claim Love Island producers did to Sereniti Springs after the flip.