Melissa Barrera has given her statement after being fired from Scream 7, in which she defends her posts that have condemned Israel and supported Palestine during the ongoing genocide taking place. Her post on her Instagram story can be seen below from a screenshot we had taken.
The post comes in on the same day that Jenna Ortega, who played the co-lead in the last films, announced not to return. Reportedly, the reasons were due to the schedule not working out, as she was slated to shoot Wednesday season 2. She has not given a statement on the current situation with her co-star or the next installment in the slasher franchise.
Melissa Barrera Defends Herself in New Statement About Being Fired From Scream 7 and Posts About Palestine and Israel
The star started her message by condemning hate in all forms. She went into about how being “a proud Mexicana,” with a substantial following, made her feel that she had a “responsibility” and “privilege of being heard.” So, she has “tried to use it to raise awareness about issues.”
Spyglass Media found her posts to be anti-Semitic and hateful. Melissa Barrera has vocally criticized Israel for its attacks on Palestine. One post included a call to President Biden and other leaders to take action for a ceasefire. Some of what Spyglass deemed to cross the line included her sharing work from Israeli historian and professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University, Raz Segal.
That stance that got her axed from a franchise in which she was set to return for the third time has not wavered from yesterday’s events. She wrote on her Instagram story that “a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism.” It is why “silence is not an option” for her, as she uses her platform to bring awareness to the violence that is happening.
Nobody else in the cast has publically spoken about what happened yesterday. Director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day) did not address Palestine, Israel, or Melissa Barrera in a now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, but he did briefly touch on the subject. He wrote, “💔 Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Scream 7 is still being written. No updates have been made on how the film will adjust itself after losing its two leads.
