Love Island USA Star Kicked Off for Racism Says ICE Called on Family
A Love Island USA cast member who was removed from the reality dating show after past racist slurs she used resurfaced is breaking her silence…
Ariel Winter was abused as a child when working in Hollywood.
The 27-year-old actress – who played Alex Dunphy on ABC’s hit series Modern Family – was approached by older men, she tells DailyMail.com.
‘I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age, I started at age four,’ said the star who is appearing in the new true crime docuseries on YouTube called SOSA Undercover.
‘I don’t wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it caused trauma.’
And she has gotten professional help to deal with the painful scars.
‘The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I’ve had to go to therapy for it. The movie and TV industry is a dark place.’
Ariel Winter was abused as a child when working in Hollywood. The 27-year-old actress – who played Alex Dunphy on ABC’s hit series Modern Family – was approached by older men, she tells DailyMail.com. Seen in her teen years
She also addressed the relentless scrutiny over her body which had a profound affect on her mental health. ‘Having my figure written about was a major part of my teenage years,’ she said.
Sometimes Winter was called fat. ‘It was just everywhere. It was every headline I read about myself,’ Winter recalled. ‘I mean, I was 14.’
Winter, who was navigating going through puberty in the spotlight, explained that at the time she ‘was on an antidepressant in high school that caused’ her ‘to gain 30 lbs.’
‘My mental health was my top priority,’ she said.
She then had her prescription altered.
Winter said she ‘happened to lose all that weight’ but there was backlash for that too as she was accused of being ‘way too skinny. It was hard to be torn down constantly,’ the star pointed out.
Then she learned to ‘love’ herself no matter what. After moving out of her hometown in Los Angeles things changed. ‘I went on a journey of self-healing,’ Winter said. ‘I was healing. I’ve got great people around me.’
She also said kids are in the future: ‘I want to have a family so I needed to heal those old wounds.’
Winter and her boyfriend Luke Benward moved out the state in 2020 for a quieter life.
‘I just left the city of LA because I wanted something new,’ she said.
‘I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age, I started at age four,’ she said. ‘I don’t wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it causes trauma’; seen in 2011
Seen as Alex on her hit TV show Modern Family
‘I am definitely happy living out side of Los Angeles. There was a lot of history I was happy to get away from. It’s nice to have space, a bigger yard, more privacy, and be a normal person. It’s been super great.’
Ariel dressed up as a blonde 12-year-old to nab a high-risk predator.
The Hollywood veteran became a part of undercover operations for the nonprofit SOSA – Safe from Online Sex Abuse – for a true crime docuseries on YouTube called SOSA Undercover.
Ariel dressed up as a 12-year-old decoy in an Oklahoma City sting operation. Driven by her own experiences, the mission is personal.
‘It’s definitely cathartic to be teaming with SOSA, knowing that I can make a difference,’ Winter told DailyMail.com.
‘It can be scary at times pretending to be 12 and taking to older men, but it’s validating to put away predators that have been harming children.
‘Growing up in the entertainment industry, I’ve been the girl we are trying to save. It’s vital to me to help protect young women from the experiences I endured in my own life.’
‘The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I’ve had to go to therapy for it. The movie and TV industry is a dark place.’ Seen in 2019 in NYC
The ubiquity of online predators in photo-sharing apps, gaming platforms and social media renders today’s teens more vulnerable than ever. SOSA partners directly with law enforcement to identify and arrest child predators.
Winter told DailyMail.com that it was a lot of hard work finding and catching predators.
‘Finding someone is hard because they don’t use their real name or handle and we have to do research into who these people are,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘You see a lot of dark things when you start investigating who is after pre-teen girls.
‘I was surprised by the volume how many men were out there looking to talk to young girls who were 12 and under. It’s hundreds of thousands of men.
‘These men also look like normal, nice guys – they don’t look like predators. They look like the guy next-door and they’re usually married and have children. The men seem nice they have dogs they show you pictures of their dogs. They talk about their everyday life and they seem like sweet men. But the truth is they want to spend time with a 12-year-old girl, they ask inappropriate questions and want to know if parents are around.
‘One guy was almost 40-years-old and he wanted to take an 11-year-old girl shopping for a new bra. That’s not normal. It’s not good.’
Ariel also said it was ‘wild’ to see that the age men were attracted to was 12 to 14.
‘This whole experience has been heartbreaking because I think of how young these girls are and they’re being approached by so much older men,’ Winter added.
The Hollywood veteran became a part of undercover operations for the nonprofit SOSA – Safe from Online Sex Abuse – for a true crime docuseries on YouTube called SOSA Undercover
Ariel dressed up as a 12-year-old decoy in an Oklahoma City sting operation. Driven by her own experiences, the mission is personal. ‘It’s definitely cathartic to be teaming with SOSA, knowing that I can make a difference,’ Winter told DailyMail.com
‘It can be scary at times pretending to be 12 and taking to older men, but it’s validating to put away predators that have been harming children,’ the Sofia The First star added
And she feels bad for the young girls who go online to find a friend.
‘Kids look for online relationship because they’re lonely or bored and then they find a male and think that they can connect to them, no realizing they are older and predators with bad intentions,’ said Winter.
‘I like working with SOSA because it’s women helping women and I’ll do it as long as I can.’
Roo added, ‘Ariel is boosting our platform and it means so much to us because we have only five full-time employees and we have a smaller budget than most libraries
Ariel is getting the word out about SOSA: ‘She has been amazing. She will do anything to help us. She helps take out the trash and she’ll eat cold cheeseburgers with us,’ said Roo.
In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported over 36.2 million cases of suspected child sexual exploitation—a 12% increase from the previous year.
Despite dedicated ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) task forces, most local agencies lack the capacity to pose as minors—and predators are getting smarter, constantly looking for proof that the teens they target are real.
SOSA’s experienced team creates realistic backstories and environments — including a fully staged ‘decoy house’ — allowing their minor personas to respond to predators on video calls, build trust, and provide law enforcement with the critical evidence needed to secure arrests.
SOSA’s impact extends beyond law enforcement— they have a highly engaged audience of over 1M followers on Instagram (@sosatogether) and TikTok (@sosatogether), where they raise awareness, share insights and educational resources, as well as behind-the-scenes content to empower parents and teens.
Winter added, ‘But the truth is they want to spend time with a 12-year-old girl, they ask inappropriate questions and want to know if parents are around. One guy was almost 40-years-old and he wanted to take an 11-year-old girl shopping for a new bra. That’s not normal. It’s not good.’ Seen in 2024
Winter as Alex, Ty Burrell as Phil, Sarah Hyland as Haley, Julie Bowen as Claire and Nolan Gould as Luke on Modern Family
SOSA UNDERCOVER premiered last month on YouTube. Join over 100,000 early subscribers for real-time updates and new episodes every two weeks. Free access is available, but for just $5.99/month, you’ll unlock uncensored full episodes, exclusive bonus content, and an ad-free experience — all in one place. Subscribe now on YouTube.
SOSA Undercover is a true crime docuseries that follows the high-stakes undercover investigations of SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse) as they work directly with law enforcement to track and apprehend online predators.
Unlike self-proclaimed ‘predator hunters,’ SOSA operates strictly within legal guidelines, partnering with ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) law enforcement officers and district attorneys to ensure their collected evidence is fully prosecutable.
In addition to documentary-style episodes covering real cases, SOSA Undercover will share educational content and behind-the-scenes extras, including livestreams with the team, deleted scenes, and more.
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