Melissa Barrera: Actress fired from ‘Scream 7’ over Israel-Gaza posts
Mexican actress Melissa Barrera, best known for her role as Sam Carpenter in the slasher films "Scream" (2022) and "Scream VI" (2023), has been fired from the next "Scream" film sequel after its makers said her pro-Palestinian social media posts were antisemitic.
The star has posted regularly about the Israel-Gaza conflict, including resharing one post that accused Israel of "genocide and ethnic cleansing". Production company Spyglass said it had "zero tolerance for antisemitism".
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Meanwhile, Susan Sarandon has been dropped by her Hollywood agency after speaking at a pro-Palestinian rally. Neither Sarandon, who starred in "Thelma & Louise", nor Mexican actress Barrera have commented on their situations.
However, before her departure was announced, Barrera reshared a quote from another account on her Instagram story, which read: "At the end of the day, I'd rather be excluded for who I include than be included for who I exclude."
That post has been interpreted by some of her followers as a reference to her being sacked from the film.
Barrera has led the previous two "Scream" movies and has also starred in the recent screen version of "Carmen" and the 2021 adaptation of the stage musical "In The Heights".
Other posts shared by Barrera in recent weeks have included one about distorting the Holocaust "to boost the Israeli arms industry" and another saying Gaza was "currently being treated like a concentration camp".
In a statement released to Variety, a spokesman for "Scream 7" production company Spyglass said its stance was "unequivocally clear". It said: "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."
Christopher Landon, who is expected to direct "Scream 7", stylised as "Scream VII", appeared to reference the situation on social media.
In a since-deleted post on X (formerly known as Twitter), he said, "Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make." The "Scream" franchise was rebooted in 2022, with the fifth film taking USD 137 million (EUR 109 million) at the box office and the sixth earning USD 169 million (EUR 135 million).
Barrera played Sam Carpenter in the films, the older sister of Tara, played by Jenna Ortega. The rebooted films also starred Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell, reprising their original roles.
Barrera's firing followed news that actress Sarandon had been dropped by talent agency UTA. She has been criticised for telling the rally last week: "There are a lot of people that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence."
She also said people were "educating themselves, people are stepping away from brainwashing that started when they were kids". Sarandon encouraged attendees to "be strong, be patient, be clear and stand with anybody who has the courage to speak out".
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