Actress Melissa Barrera has been dropped from Spyglass Media’s Scream VII because of a series of social media posts on theIsrael-Hamas conflict that she shared. She was fired in the wake of her posts where she expressedsupport for the Palestinian cause, Entertainment Weekly confirmed. She also criticised Israeli actions that followed the Hamas attack.
Melissa called for a ceasefire in Gaza last month. Recently, she described Palestine as a “colonized country” and alleged that Israeli forces were carrying out “genocide & ethnic cleansing.”
“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote in one post on Instagram stories. “Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
Scream VII director Christopher Landon addressed Melissa’s firing on X.In a post that now appears not to exist, he wrote, “This is my statement. Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
The Israel-Hamas war is being widely spoken about by a lot of Hollywood celebrities. In fact, just recently, Susan Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency, UTA, following her comments at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Melissa played Sam Carpenter, the older sibling of Jenna Ortega’s Tara Carpenter, in 2022’s Scream and this year’s Scream VI. She became one of the main stars of the franchise. Notably, Scream VI earned $108 million at the domestic box office, as well as $60 million in international territories.
Melissa’s role was expected to be reprised in Scream VII. It is possible that with Melissa being removed from the franchise, thefilm could find itself in hot water.
Melissa has also appeared in other films and series, including 2021’s In the Heights and the TV show Keep Breathing.