Neve Campbell announced her return to Scream 7 and it has sparked a wave of online backlash. The news of the return of Campbell, who famously played the character of Sidney Prescott in the original movie in the franchise, comes in the wake of Melissa Barrera being fired from Scream 7 for Pro-Palestine comments on social media.
Campbell sat out Scream 6 over a salary dispute. Scream creator and writer Kevin Williamson is also returning for Scream 7. He wrote the first, second, and fourth Scream movies.
Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who also exited Scream 7 after Barrera’s firing, were the protagonists of the last two Scream movies. Barrera played Sam Carpenter, the illegitimate child of Billy Loomis, the original Ghostface killer. She was set to return alongside on-screen sister Tara Carpenter, played by Ortega (better known for her role in Wednesday) in the seventh installment of the slasher franchise.
The reactions online were divided. Some people said they love Campbell, but it’s hard to support Scream 7 after what happened with Melissa Barrera.
Others were straight-up saying they’re going to boycott the movie.
And others were side-eyeing Campbell because she walked away from the franchise because of a money dispute, but not to support Barrera or to “protest genocide.”
But some fans were optimistic and hoped this means an apology to Barrera is coming.