Source: Michael Buckner / Getty
Actress Melissa Barrera has been cut from the upcoming Scream 7 movie over a social media post concerning the Israel-Hamas war.
On Tuesday (Nov. 21), Deadline reports that Melissa Barrera, who was one of the leads in the recent Scream movies had been dropped from the film by the production company, Spyglass Media Group. In a statement, Spyglass cited Barrera’s reposts on social media related to the Israel-Hamas conflic where she showed support for the Palestinians, which some perceived as antisemitic.
Barrera, who was previously in the film adaptation of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s In The Heights, was also a major figure in the Vida series on Starz before joining the Scream franchise. Previous posts that have been collated by people online show Barrera’s posts decrying the bloodshed in the region that was initiated by an attack on a concert near the Gaza Strip on October 7 by Hamas and the subsequent Israeli military intervention.
Almost all of Melissa Barrera’s IG Stories about Palestine: A thread. pic.twitter.com/DjrbJWt6RQ
— Sam Carpenter TGS stands w/ Melissa Barrera (@OoXLR8oO) October 22, 2023
She reposted an image to her Instagram Stories in response to the news which read: “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.”
Melissa Barrera’s post on social media after being dropped from ‘Scream’ for denouncing the genocide in Gaza:
“At the end of the day, I'd rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.” pic.twitter.com/4YDK8dW7eX
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 21, 2023
“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,” the statement issued by one of Spyglass’ representatives read. The company offered no further comment.
Melissa Barrera starred as Sam Carpenter, the older sister to Tara Carpenter, played by Jenna Ortega. Ortega has become a major star thanks in part to playing Tara Carpenter and also playing the titular role of Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series. On Wednesday (Nov. 22), word has spread that Ortega has asked Spyglass Media and Paramount, the studio behind the Scream movies to be let out of her contract over the dismissal of Barrera. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ortega had actually expressed her desire not to return to the horror franchise two months ago.