Over the weekend, Love Island USA star Kendall Washington was thrown to the wolves of the internet when multiple sexually explicit videos of him leaked and started making the rounds online. The leak happened on the same night as the season six finale on Sunday, July 21, giving the controversy even more life, since Kendall was a finalist on the popular reality dating show.
Not only were the videos posted without Kendall's consent, but at the time, he was unable to access his phone and defend himself from the a lot of the online vitriol, much of which was antigay and homophobic due the nature of the leaked videos. The situation was absolutely vile, and regardless of the opinions of Kendall from his time on Love Island USA, no one should have to deal with this invasion of privacy and trust.
Luckily, tons of Love Island fans rallied around Kendall until he could answer for himself.
Before Washington was able to access his own phone, his sister, Taylor Washington, jumped to defend him.
She took to her Instagram story, posting dozens of screenshots of supportive X posts.
"@LoveIsland I really hope yall have serious mental health resources in place for him so he doesn't come back from the high of this experience to seeing he's been unfairly exposed on top of general reality TV backlash," Taylor wrote in her story. "If y'all have a history of suicide from people being on your show, I'd really hope you all get a handle on this expeditiously."
Instagram (@taytaywash)
Finally, after weeks in the Love Island villa away from the outside world and with no access to his own social media accounts, Kendall took to his own Instagram story to respond to the situation.
"What a way to get my phone back y'all," he wrote. I just want to address the content that came out from my past."
"That was something I shared to someone in confidence and trust," he continued. "It's unfortunate that it's no longer private, but it is what it is."
Instagram (@kendallwashington)
We kind of stan this response — owning it and moving on! Regardless, we hope to see some kind of consequence for the person responsible for the leak and hope Kendall can get the support he deserves.
Love Island USA is streaming on Peacock.
