The Scream franchise is in trouble. Melissa Barrera, who previously starred as Billy Loomis’s daughter Sam Carpenter in both 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI, has been fired from Scream VII. Now Spyglass, the production company behind Scream 7 has released a statement.
As shared with Indiewire, a representative for Spyglass made their decision quite clear. As you can see below, the representative emphasizes the antisemitic claims that were referenced in the initial report.
Here’s what they shared:
“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,” the statement read.
A now-deleted statement was also shared by the film’s director, Christopher Landon, who took over Scream VII from Radio Silence. He was much more brief, expressing only his disappointment for the situation at hand. Landon also reminds fans that it was not his decision to make:
“This is my statement: 💔 Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Melissa Barrera shared numerous pro-Palestine posts on social media. According to the initial report from Variety, she was “quietly dropped” for having “referred to Israel as ‘colonized’ land and floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media.”
Many fans of the Scream film franchise have expressed their disappointment with the decision. Barrera has yet to release a comment on the matter. As such, this is a developing situation, and we’ll have more details as they come to light.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Melissa Barrera and the future of Scream VII as we have them. Barrera was one of the main stars of the new films, with co-star Jenna Ortega beside her. Unfortunately, Ortega has also decided to exit the franchise.