'Selling the OC' Star Kayla Cardona Says Alex Hall Deserves Racism Flak

Alex Hall has been getting dragged after what some perceived as her trying to make a Black woman sound angry and unhinged -- and a fellow cast member says it's well-deserved.

We spoke to 'Selling the OC' star Kayla Cardona -- who's very familiar with what has fans up in arms now that Season 2 has officially come to a close ... with unsettled business between Alex and Brandi Marshall -- who got in a huge fight on the show.

The drama between them all stems from Brittany Snow's ex, Tyler Stanaland ... and Brandi accusing Alex of being "messy" when it comes to pursuing him. It was a feud that simmered all season and eventually came to an ugly head during an argument in Cabo -- which was caught on camera and obviously aired on Netflix.

During that shouting match ... many felt Alex was hurling racist microaggressions at Brandi by suggesting she was going to swing on her and trying to paint her as violent. That didn't occur in the moment -- Brandi kept her cool -- but there was a lot of chatter after the fact.

Like we said, AH has been taking it on the chin on Twitter ... and in our convo with Kayla -- who was front and center for all of that during filming -- she says succinctly, "If the shoe fits."

Take a listen for yourself to see what she remembers from that day ... and what apparently happened off-camera too. Based on how KC describes it -- it sounds like things might've been even nastier behind the scenes.