Melissa Barrera has broken her silence on being let go from Scream VII over her comments about the Israel-Hamas war.
“First and foremost I condemn Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,” Barrera, 33, wrote via her Instagram Story on Wednesday, November 22. “I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people.”
The actress noted that “as a Latina, a proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard,” adding that she has tried to use her celebrity status as a way to “raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need.”
News broke on Tuesday, November 21, that Barrera — who starred as Samantha Carpenter in 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream 6 — was let go from the next Scream film due to her comments about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (The franchise lost its previous final girl, Neve Campbell, due to financial disputes ahead of Scream 6.)
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“Every person on this earth- regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic status- deserves equal human rights, dignity and, of course, freedom,” Barrera continued in her statement on Wednesday. “I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism.”
Barrera concluded the post by sharing that she prays “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,” she wrote. “Silence is not an option for me.”
After news broke that Barrera had been dropped from the film, Spyglass, the production company behind the new batch of Scream sequels, released a statement about the decision to let her go.
“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,” their statement to Variety read.
Scream VII’s director, Christopher Landon, also responded to Barrera’s firing in a since-deleted Tweet on Tuesday, writing, “This is my statement: 💔 Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
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It was announced earlier on Wednesday that Jenna Ortega would also not be reprising her role as Tara Carpenter, Barrera’s younger sister, as the 21-year-old will be busy with her filming schedule for season 2 of Netflix’s Wednesday, according to Deadline.
Filming for the Tim Burton series kicks off in April 2024. According to the outlet, the cast is expected to remain overseas in Ireland until later that summer. Ortega is also in the midst of filming Beetlejuice 2 alongside Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, which is slated for a May 2024 release.
