“Scream” fans decried Spyglass Media’s decision Tuesday to part ways with its two-time franchise star Melissa Barrera following social media posts supporting Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
In the posts, the actress compared Israel’s treatment of Gaza to a “concentration camp.”
Some fans were so upset by the studio’s decision to oust Barrera after playing Sam Carpenter in the fifth and sixth movies that they vowed to boycott “Scream 7.”
“I cannot imagine that film without her and ‘Scream 7’ will suffer terribly because of this awful decision,” wrote designer and critic @thisisnotahmad in a post whose likes were fast approaching 7,000.
Barrera, who is Mexican, said in an Instagram story last month that she knows what it’s like being from “a colonized country” and that she strongly disapproves of Israel’s military tactics. “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp … This is genocide and ethnic cleansing,” she wrote. She also shared a message from Artists 4 Ceasefire that was signed by, among others, “Sorry to Bother You” director Boots Riley and “Nomadland” Oscar winner Zoe Chao, as well as Bradley Cooper and “Fargo” star Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
In a statement provided to TheWrap later Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Spyglass Media said, “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.”
Additionally considering the news earlier on Tuesday that UTA had dropped Susan Sarandon after remarks made at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City, writer Zoë Rose Bryant said on X, “Every single artist should be showing support for Susan Sarandon and Melissa Barrera today, or this will just be the beginning of the new Hollywood blacklist.”
Others pointed out that, while “Stranger Things” star Noah Schnapp was criticized for sharing a video of himself holding stickers that read “Zionism is sexy,” he has not seen the same kind of negative impact to his career so far.
“Noah Schnapp gets to plaster L.A. with ‘Zionism is sexy’ stickers and there are absolutely zero consequences for his career. Melissa Barrera posts in support of Palestine and gets dropped from a franchise which she has been a lead in two films. Absolutely wild to watch,” wrote @fatfabfeminist on X.
“This Melissa Barrera firing is such bulls—t,” film critic Shaurya Chawla said on X. “There are celebrities out here going full blown pro-genocide and antisemitic on social media and facing nothing, meanwhile the studio does this over mild comments she made? Disgusting. F—k right off.”
Filmmaker Christopher Landon, who was slated to take over the “Scream” franchise for its seventh installment, tweeted, simply: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Read more responses — and calls for a brewing “Scream 7” boycott — in the roundup below.
This is my statement: 💔 Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.
— christopher landon (@creetureshow) November 22, 2023
this Melissa Barrera shit is infuriating. the definition of “anti-semitism” is being devalued so fast and in such bad faith that it will soon lose all meaning, which probably isn’t *great* for the Jews long-term. alas, by definition, Zionism doesn’t care about anything but itself
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) November 21, 2023
neve campbell took a stand against the studios and refused to be in scream 6 when they didn’t pay her worth for being the main character of the franchise.
— Bradley 🦋 (@bradleyberdecia) November 21, 2023
melissa barrera spoke out against the genocide in Gaza and is fired from scream 7.
Both of them deserve SO much better. pic.twitter.com/AA8HjhUrud
melissa barrera went through hell n back for this franchise with the constant hate campaigns and racist fanb^ys so actually fuck the studios for treating her this way ! pic.twitter.com/iKOMA1Ru44
— aleah JO DAY ꒰ა❤︎໒꒱ (@scarymcvies) November 21, 2023
You fired Melissa Barrera, you planned on killing Jenna Ortega off, there go your leads right there. Just throw the whole movie away at this point #Scream7 pic.twitter.com/V9h2vtmFXV
— JJ (@itsjjonair) November 21, 2023
JUSTICE FOR MELISSA 🖤#MelissaBarrera. #SCREAM7. pic.twitter.com/2WJLomJ9cX
— ScreamMovies 🎄 (@Scream_News_) November 21, 2023
