Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the Scream movies has released a statement regarding the Melissa Barrera firing. The director has also reacted to the firing. The actress, who starred as Sam Carpenter in the last two Scream movies was removed from the franchise seemingly due to her social media posts about Israel and Gaza.
“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to Variety. “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.”
Christopher Landon, who is set to direct Scream 7, initially made a comment about Barrera’s exit on X, formerly known as Twitter. His post, which read: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make,” has now been deleted.
Barrera has yet to make a public comment since news of her being let go from the franchise broke. Rumors have surfaced online, however, indicating that after Barrera’s firing co-star Jenna Ortega might be ready to move on from the franchise as well. Ortega, who starred as Barrera’s sister, Tara Carpenter, in the last two Scream movies, hadn’t been confirmed to return for Scream 7. However, the two were widely expected to reprise their roles.
And many fans are calling for a boycott of Scream 7 specifically because of the Melissa Barrera firing.
A few days ago, 36 Senior UN experts signed a letter stating that “grave violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in the aftermath of October 7, particularly in Gaza, point to a genocide in the making.”