Melissa Barrera’s Scream 7 Replacement Seemingly Shades the Actress After She Was Fired: ‘The Boycott Didn’t Work’
Melissa Barrera starred as one of the main characters in the Scream reboot in 2022 as the strong-willed Sam Carpenter. Her firing caused a lot of uproar in Hollywood and changed the horror franchise right at the heels of when production for Scream 7 started.
Melissa Barrera and her co-star Jenna Ortega, who plays her character’s sister Tara Carpenter, left before Scream 7 started production. Both characters were core to the fifth and sixth movies, but what happened to the actresses?
Why did Melissa Barrera get fired from Scream?
Melissa Barrera was fired by Spy Glass Productions for her pro-Palestine posts following the war in Gaza.
She posted on her Instagram stories: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
Barrera followed it up with another story: “I have been actively looking for videos and information about the Palestinian side for the last 2 weeks or so, following accounts etc. Why? Because western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you decide for yourself. Usually the algorithm on social media gets the gist. Well…My discover page on IG will ONLY show me videos showing and talking about the Israeli side. Censorship is very real. Palestinians know this, they know the world has been trying to make them invisible for decades. Keep sharing.”
She concluded, “I too come from a colonized country, Palestine will be free,” referring to her roots in Mexico. “<< they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds >>”
Following the posts, Variety reported that the actress had been dropped by the production company for future Scream movies. “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” a spokesperson told Variety.
Barrera responded to the firing, “First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people … I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism. I pray day and night for no more deaths, for no more violence, and for peaceful co-existence. I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom. Silence is not an option for me.”
Jenna Ortega later left the project and told The Cut about the situation, that she left not “due to pay or scheduling.” But rather because of Melissa’s departure and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s leave as well.
“The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,” Ortega explained. “If Scream VII wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”
Variety reported that Barrera’s firing cost the production up to $500,000 for rewrites.
Barrera does not regret speaking about the Palestinian cause, but she did find everything hard because of the backlash. “It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything. There were times where I felt like my life was over,” she told The Independent.
“For the longest time, I gave myself value as a human because of my work,” she continued. “So when I saw it potentially ending, I was like, who even am I? And I realized that I’m so much more than just an actor – I’m a great sister, a great daughter, a great friend. And I’m very capable of finding success in something else if I wanted it.”
Activists, consisting of members of Entertainment Labor for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, and CODEPINK LA, protested at the Scream 7 premiere at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. They were seen holding the Palestinian flag and chanting, “Paramount has a blacklist of actors who criticize Israel” and “Cancel Paramount+.” Barrera commented on the protests on Instagram: “I see you” with a heart emoji.
Days after the film premiered, Anna Camp, who plays Jessica Bowden in Scream 7, posted on her Instagram stories, “The Boycott didn’t work. The critics hate didn’t work. The pathetic leaks didn’t work. What worked was audiences coming out and making the film a success.” The story was accompanied by “Karma” by Taylor Swift as the background music.
Camp later apologized for the post on X. “It has come to my attention that I reposted someone else’s story that does not reflect my personal beliefs,” Camp wrote. “I have since deleted the repost because I absolutely meant no harm. I’m sorry to anyone who was affected.”
