Melissa Barrera will no longer be appearing in Scream 7. A series of social media posts by the actor reportedly led to her removal from the project in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Sources told Deadline that this is due to the reposts on her Instagram stories that are allegedly perceived to be anti-Semitic.
“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote in one Instagram stories post via The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
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Last month, Barrera shared a placard on her Instagram story that read, “I too come from a colonized country,” along with a Mexican flag logo. “Palestine WILL be free” continued the statement with an italicized quote, per Deadline, “they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” Scream franchise producer Spyglass has not publicly commented on the reports.
Barrera starred in the highly anticipated 2022 feature film Scream, a franchise reboot that generated $137.7 million worldwide and brought a line-up of generations of cast members together from throughout the series’ history. This film starred Barrera as Sam Carpenter, the older sister of Jenna Ortega‘s Tera. Barrera was also seen in Scream VI, released in March, earning $168.9 million worldwide.
According to Deadline, Christopher Landon, the director of Happy Death Day, will be taking over the helm of Scream 7 from Radio Silence. After the actors and writers strikes, Spyglass had not yet begun filming, and development had slowed down. Now, it is expected that the studio will reevaluate plans following Barrera’s departure.
Barrera gained fame after appearing in Starz’s series Vida, and she then won a lead role in Warner Bros. Into the Heights before receiving a role in the two films of the Scream franchise.
On Tuesday, it was previously reported that actor Susan Sarandon had been dropped by her talent agency, UTA, after her comments at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City on Nov. 17. In her speech, Sarandon is reported to have said, “There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence.”
