Melissa Barrera has been dropped from the upcoming Scream VII due to her outspoken social media support of Palestine amidst the Israel-Hamas war.
According to Variety, Deadline, and others, Barrera was booted by the production company behind the Scream franchise, Spyglass Media, with sources citing her recent Instagram posts and Stories voicing anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian messages as the reason why. Since the conflict broke out last month, the actor has consistently been sharing media depicting inhumane actions of the American and Israeli governments, condemning the oppression of the Palestinian people, and calling for a ceasefire.
Among the (many) posts and Stories Barrera has shared include descriptions of Israel as a settler-colonial, apartheid state guilty of ethnic cleansing. Some of her posts even assert that Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks may constitute a genocide, and quite a few allude to misinformation in “Western media” coverage of the conflict, encouraging her followers to seek their own information because “censorship is very real.”
After the news of Barrera’s dismissal broke, Spyglass Media shared the following statement: “We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism 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.”
According to the sources who have commented on the story, the allegations of anti-Semitism stemming from Barrera’s posts were the reason for her dismissal. She has, however, written in posts that she wants “safety and peace and freedom for Jews around the world,” and that “all Jewish people are NOT the Israeli government.” She also shared a post which read “Criticism of Israel is simply criticism of a government’s policies and actions,” and has reposted screenshots of a United Nations press release which argues that “any continued military operations by Israel have gone well beyond the limits of international law.”
Barrera has also expressed disapproval of Hamas, writing that “Palestinian Liberation” and Hamas are “NOT the same thing,” and that “you can condemn Hamas and still want peace and freedom for Palestinians.”
Barrera first joined the Scream franchise as Sam Carpenter in 2022’s Scream, and returned for that title’s sequel, Scream VI, earlier this year. This past August, a Christopher Landon-directed Scream VII was confirmed, and though no casting arrangements were made due to the then-ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Barrera was widely expected to reprise the role of Carpenter yet again.
In the wake of Barrera’s dismissal, Landon shared the following statement: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Barrera has not directly commented on her dismissal as of yet. However, on Monday night she shared a photo of a sign that read: “I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.” Check out a thread of all of her posts below.
Barrera isn’t the only celebrity weighing in on the conflict, which has resulted in somewhere around 14,000 casualties on both sides (though reports are varied). In the past few weeks: Quentin Tarantino visited an IDF military base; Sarah Silverman faced backlash for supporting Israel’s cutting off of water and electricity to Palestine; and Zack de la Rocha ditched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony to attend a pro-Palestine rally. Three weeks ago, Barrera joined America Ferrera, Dua Lipa, Florence Pugh, Jeremy Allen White, John Cusack, Jon Stewart, Michael Stipe, and many more celebrities who signed a petition of artists calling for a ceasefire.
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