Love Island Season 6 couple JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez have broken up nearly a year after leaving the villa. As soon as the split was announced,fans immediately started speculating about what happened. Rumors about their ending began spreading like wildfire when social media users began noticing nearly all of the Season 6 cast and host Ariana Madoix had unfollowed Rodriguez.
What few saw coming was that their demise was due to Rodriguez, who is Dominican, being an alleged racist and clout chaser who had been faking his relationship with the Las Vegas native the entire time. Craig confirmed the breakup on Tuesday when she shared a statement via Instagram Stories.
“As you know, Kenny and I are no longer together,” Craig wrote. “Please know that I have seen all the breakup theories and none have matched up to how terrible, disgusting and disappointing it truly is. Discovering that someone you loved isn’t who you thought they were and that the relationship you thought you were building hasn’t been genuine since day one has been truly devastating.”
Shortly after, Rodriguez followed with his own statement, sharing that “the past few days have been incredibly difficult.” He continued, “I’ll always be grateful for the time we shared and the memories we created. I release this chapter with no ill will, only hope that JaNa’s path forward brings her nothing but happiness.”
Craig called out Rodriquez in a response on Instagram, referring to him as a “manipulative liar.” She said, “You not taking accountability and telling people the type of person you really are is insane to me!!”
Season 6 castmates seemingly confirmed claims that Rodriguez was using Craig for brand deals and status. Serena Page called him “a narcissist and a racist” on an Instagram post while Leah Kateb called Rodriguez a “clout demon” under another post. Olivia Walker reposted Rodriguez’s statement and said “I hope this gives you the clout you always wanted you f*****g loser.”
In another post, shared by a friend of Craig’s who wasn’t on the show, she suggests that Rodriguez had messages in his phone that said he doesn’t like Black women, he thought he’d get more money out of their relationship and that he couldn’t wait to break up so he could date other women.
Since Monday, Rodriguez has lost about 100,000 followers on Instagram. He has yet to respond to the allegations.
Reality TV dating shows have historically been unkind to Black women. Especially as desirability politics, tokenism and a lack of diversity in cast have long been a standard. More recently, however, Black women have found themselves in a peculiar place in the genre. Those discriminatory factors that have existed on reality dating shows have come head-to-head with the natural social capital Black women on these shows have.
With more Love Island USA fans gravitating towards Black women — and the cultural fetishizing and appropriation they face — they’ve become central players on the show the past two seasons. But still, they experience the same misogynoir they would’ve otherwise and face double standards and ridicule when they stray outside of the boundaries others want to keep them in. In other words, it’s cool to be a Black woman until it’s time to be with a Black woman.
Any breakup can be hard, but what Craig is experiencing is on another level of trauma that no one deserves to go through.
We’re seeing Craig experience this now, but we first saw this play out during her time in the villa on Season 6. Other islanders she coupled up with prior to Rodriguez — Coye Simmons and Connor Newsum — did not value her. Simmons gave no effort to get to know her and Newsum pursued Kateb, Craig’s best friend. When Craig was tempted to leave the villa after Rodriguez recoupled with Catherine Marshall after Casa Amor, the alleged clout chaser put on a good act. He cried and begged Craig to take him back. We now see that he may have been crying over losing out on money and status, not their relationship.
A similar incident happened with Love Island USA Season 4 winners and fan favorites Zeta Morrison and Timmy Pandolfi. After Pandolfi refused to ride to the airport with Morrison, she said in an interview that she soon found out that he was faking his connection with her the entire time.
She recounted a conversation with his sister in which his sister revealed she said, “I told Timmy to go for a dark skin girl. America loves that.”
Rodriguez seemed to have the same idea. This is not only incredibly unfair and manipulative to Craig and Morrison, but it’s dehumanizing.
Let’s be very clear: we weren’t rooting for Craig and Rodriguez because they just had stellar chemistry. We were rooting for Craig to be happy. We were rooting for a Black woman with a bubbly personality who wore her heart on her sleeve to get the treatment that she deserved after witnessing men play in her face time and time again. And Black women at home watching deserve to see someone who looks like them being loved genuinely and abundantly.
Rodriguez would’ve been better off showing exactly how he felt about Craig — and Black women — early on. Because of his alleged stunt, he’s worse than Simmons and Newsum. Craig was vocal about discussing them connecting over faith and going to church together. But Rodriguez wasn’t praying for her, he was preying on her.
For nearly a year, while Craig was sharing vulnerable, intimate and authentic moments with Rodriguez, he was carrying on a lie. He rode Craig’s coattails to bring in brand deals and followers. He used her for capitalistic gain and clout. He took advantage of her and the social power that Black women come with.
When Black women root for you, we’re loud and confident about it. We rally support for our faves and that energy spreads to other demographics. As Love Island USA gains more popularity, that’s become more and more evident in the reality TV genre.
Black women may be the prize but we are not your meal ticket. Any breakup can be hard, but what Craig is experiencing is on another level of trauma that no one deserves to go through.
JaNa Craig can do bad all by her damn self. And the same folks who were rooting for her will continue to be there to lift her up and give her community and care that is filled with real love, long after everyone has forgotten Rodriguez and the clout he so desperately chased has vanished.
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