The Scream movie franchise was revived in 2022 with the fifth installment titled Scream. The film was popular enough to be followed by a sequel, Scream VI, in 2023. Melissa Barrera starred in both films – but she’s been reportedly fired from Scream VII aka Scream 7.
Her character, Sam Carpenter, plays a major role in both entries. In fact, her character happens to be the daughter of antagonist Billy Loomis, Skeet Ulrich’s character from the original film. This means that she was no doubt an integral part of Scream 7.
As shared by Variety via SlashFilm, however, Barrera has “quietly” exited the sequel. It was suspected that her controversial comments in support of Palestine resulted in her removal. On the other hand, both Slash Film and Variety claim that she was actually fired for antisemitism.
As Variety notes, “an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media. A rep for Spyglass declined to comment and Barrera did not respond to a request for comment.”
The situation is still developing, and as such, it’s unknown what the exact comment could have been or if it will be made available. It easily could have been deleted altogether. But clearly not without consequence as Barrera seems to be out of the Scream franchise.
Melissa Barrera has been dropped out from ‘SCREAM VII’ due to her support of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/vMSOe20PJi
— A Shot. (@justashottt_) November 21, 2023
This no doubt marks the beginning of a difficult production for Scream VII. Additionally, co-star Jenna Ortega has an increasingly busy schedule, despite reports confirming that she’ll still appear in the sequel. The film will also no longer be directed by Radio Silence, with director Christopher Landon now at the helm.
Hopefully we’ll have more details regarding this situation and the future of Scream in the near future. For now, we’ll have to see what this means for both Melissa Barrera and the future of the Scream franchise. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding this situation as we have them.