Melissa Barrera won’t be back for the next Scream sequel.
The actress, 33, will no longer star in the horror franchise’s upcoming seventh instalment after she was removed from the cast due to her social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war, according to reports from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
Variety reported that insiders viewed Barrera’s comments as antisemitic.
“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: 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,” Spyglass, the studio behind Scream VII, said in a statement.
In one written message from her Instagram Story quoted in the report and circulating social media after the news, Barrera allegedly wrote, “I have been actively looking for videos and information about the Palestinian side for the last 2 weeks or so, following accounts etc. Why? Because Western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
Barrera starred as Sam Carpenter in both 2022’s Scream and this year’s Scream VI.
Her character was introduced as Scream villain Billy Loomis’ (Skeet Ulrich) daughter. The character was set to follow in the footsteps of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott as the new franchise lead.
Barrera’s Sam is older sister to Tera, played by Jenna Ortega.
Along with Barrera and Ortega, the Scream VI cast included Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, legacy Scream member Courteney Cox and Scream IV’s Hayden Panettiere.
The seventh Scream is set to be directed by Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon. Landon is taking over from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett after their co-directing roles in both Scream (2022) and Scream VI.
