Reality TV stars Huda Mustafa and Louis Russell have found themselves at the center of controversy for laughing after a fan joined their TikTok live to call Love Island USA star Olandria Carthen a racial slur. The clip of the live, which took place on Oct. 28, has been circulating on social media, resulting in backlash from the Love Island USA fandom and beyond. Her Campus reached out to both Huda and Louis for clarification on the situation and responses to the backlash, but did not hear back in time for publication.
While going live, Huda and Louis paused the music in the background to let a fan call in and speak. The fan then proceeded to call Olandria, a Black woman, a racial slur. After the fact, Huda and Louis burst into laughter before removing the fan from the live. Then, Huda turned to Louis, saying, “Yo, what did they say? They said a bad word.”
Shortly after the clip of the live went viral, Huda took to her Instagram Story to issue a statement about her reaction. “Me and Louis did not hear what was said in that no caller ID call on live, only the racial slur which we hung up immediately,” she wrote. “I don’t condone anything of the sort.” She continued, “I really don’t condone racism, which is why it was immediately hung up. Once again, we did not hear it very well considering it sounded like a child, only the last slur.”
Huda also addressed the fact that she laughed after hearing the slur in a separate IG story, writing, “Also laughter was because it was AWKWARD like who the heck says something offensive like that on a call on his live and as you can hear me say ‘what did they say?’ and ‘they said a bad word’ because that’s ALL I heard was a bad word.”
At the time of publication, Louis has yet to address the live.
Even after Huda’s statement, fans are still upset about the way the racial slur was addressed, calling for Huda and Louis to apologize to Olandria and further condemn racial slurs. Her Campus reached out to Huda’s team for comment on the backlash after her statement, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
Olandria responded to the racist comments made on Louis & Huda’s live
On Oct. 29, Olandria took to her Instagram Story to address the racist comment made on Louis and Huda’s live. “I do not condone racism of any kind, nor do I entertain it. That kind of language is never acceptable. Not in anger, not as a joke, not ever,” she wrote. “Words like that carry generations of pain, and pretending otherwise keeps the cycle going. Defending it, laughing about it, or making excuses is even worse.”
Olandria continued to say that she will not let the situation “derail” her from continuing to uplift her community, and is taking this as an opportunity to call for “real accountability and awareness.”
She ended her statement by encouraging “those who participated in the stream and their followers” to donate to organizations dedicated to supporting and uplifting the Black and POC communities. She also included several slides of donation links to support HBCUs and underfunded educational resources for Black students, such as the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, NAACP, and UNCF.