BuzzFeed Criticized for ‘Knuckle Sandwich’ Joke About Love Island’s Chelley

BuzzFeed just learned the hard way that trying to be “funny” on the internet can backfire fast. Their food arm, Tasty, dropped an Instagram post about Love Island USA that people say crossed every line you can imagine. At the center of it is Chelley Bissainte — one of this season’s standout Islanders — and a “knuckle sandwich” joke that didn’t land with anyone.

It started simple enough. Tasty posted slides of breakfast ideas they’d cook for the villa girls. All fun and games, right? But then people swiped to Chelley’s slide and found something nobody expected — a cartoon “knuckle sandwich.” Literally a white fist stuffed between two buns. It was supposed to be cute. It ended up being called “disturbing,” “anti-Black,” and worse.

Why Did People Get So Upset?

It’s not just the image itself. If you watch Love Island, you know the whole breakfast thing is kind of sweet. The guys make eggs or toast for the girls they’re vibing with. So Tasty thought they’d flip it with their own menu. For Chelley? Fruit. Goldfish crackers for her partner Ace. And then — that fist sandwich.

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People called it out for the obvious: linking a Black woman to violence. Some said it looked like a reference to domestic abuse. Chelley’s team didn’t hold back either. They said the post wasn’t just tone deaf — it pushed a message that Black women somehow deserve to get hit. They called it “disturbing, disgusting, and unacceptable.” They said it showed bias, prejudice and plain disrespect.

Fans agreed. Comments poured in fast. Folks wanted BuzzFeed to take responsibility. A knuckle sandwich isn’t just an old cartoon punchline when you put it next to a real person — especially a Black woman on reality TV, where trolls already throw hate her way.

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Did BuzzFeed Respond Properly?

BuzzFeed’s first move was to delete the original post. They swapped the knuckle sandwich with pancakes. The caption basically said, “Oops, we missed the mark.” They claimed they just wanted to be “cheeky” but admitted they should have seen how bad it looked.

Chelley’s people weren’t impressed. They called the new post condescending. They said BuzzFeed dodged real accountability. After more backlash, BuzzFeed deleted that version too.

Chelley’s team says they want more than a quick edit and a half-apology. They want a real one. One that says “We messed up. We see why this hurt so many people. Here’s what we’ll do to make sure it never happens again.”

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Fans are still talking about it. Because this isn’t just about breakfast slides and a dumb joke. It’s about how easy it still is to write something off as “playful” when it plays right into ugly stereotypes. And how folks online don’t let you hide from it anymore.