Mexican Actress Melissa Barrera was recently dismissed from the long-anticipated Slasher Flick, Scream7, due to pro-Palestine posts and comments over social media.
The actress finally broke silence on the incident, commenting: As a Latina, a proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard, and therefore I have tried to use it to raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need.
She continued: 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.
Her statement continued: 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 peaceful co-existence. I will continue to speak out for those who need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, human rights, and freedom.
A day after Barrera was axed from the pic, it was confirmed that Jenna Ortega would also depart the franchise.
The seventh installment of the slasher franchise, Scream, will not feature Jenna Ortega, who starred in the previous two Scream movies.
Deadline reports that Ortega’s departure was discussed months ago, before the recently ended actors’ strike, and is the result of a scheduling conflict with the second season of her Netflix series Wednesday.
News of Ortega’s departure comes a day after Melissa Barrera, who played Ortega’s onscreen sister, was fired from Scream VII over a series of social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war that Spyglass deemed hate speech.
Notably, Ortega and Barrera starred as sisters Tara and Sam Carpenter in 2022’s Scream and this year’s Scream VI, injecting new life into the long-running horror franchise.
Scream fans criticized Barrera’s departure from Spyglass Media. Some threatened to boycott “Scream 7” because they were extremely furious about the studio’s choice to fire Barrera.
On his part, the slasher’s filmmaker Christopher Landon also responded last Tuesday to the news of Barrera‘s firing by Spyglass Media, saying: This is my statement. Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make. Although, his post was deleted soon after.
It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the first time the franchise has lost main cast members. The movie’s last installment was missing the franchise mainstay Neve Campbell, who refused to return for “Scream VI” due to a salary dispute.
