Before production begins on Scream 7, the horror series will seemingly have to find a new star. Per a report from Variety, and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, Melissa Barrera, who starred in the last two Scream films, has been fired from the next entry due to comments she made on social media about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
As Variety explains, Barrera was removed from the upcoming production by Spyglass Media. The move comes after she posted a number of pro-Palestine messages on her social media, some of which have been documented on other social media sites. Among her comments, Barrera referenced Israel as a “colonized” land, while also seemingly using an antisemitic trope that the media is controlled by Jews. “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side,” she wrote in a post. “Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
Barrera first appeared in 2022’s Scream as Sam Carpenter, the Final Girl heir apparent after Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott took on a lesser role in the revival. Barerra then returned earlier this year in Scream VI, once again cementing her as the star of the new films. Also featured in the films are Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Yellowjackets), and Mason Gooding (Booksmart).
Earlier this year, Barrera began filming her role in a still-untitled Universal Monsters movie, directed by Radio Silence–the directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who also helmed Scream and Scream VI.
GameSpot has reached out to both Spyglass, the production company behind the films, and Barrera’s publicist. We have not received a response as of the publishing of this story.
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