Melissa Barrera is facing vicious backlash after calling out Scream 7 and Jenna Ortega

Melissa Barrera has opened up about the Scream 7 controversy that led to her exit from the horror franchise, and it’s led to unexpected backlash on social media. 

Back in November 2023, Barrera was fired from Scream 7 over posts supporting Palestine and criticising the Israeli government for its destruction of Gaza. Spyglass Media Group claimed her comments were interpreted as antisemitic.

A spokesperson for the production company shared the following statement with Variety, “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.”

There was a huge backlash to the decision at the time, with more than 1,300 creatives signing a letter shared by Artists For Palestine UK criticising the string of firings – including Barrera’s – of performers who had spoken in support of Palestine. 

Shortly after the news, Jenna Ortega dropped out of Scream 7, as did Scream 6 directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin.

While many assumed Ortega left in relation to this issue, the Wednesday star more recently clarified that it was simply because the project was “kind of falling apart” after the “Melissa stuff.”

Melissa Barrera corrects Jenna Ortega narrative: ‘That’s not the reality’

This week, Barrera spoke about the controversy in an in-depth interview with Variety’s Marlow Stern, who pointed out that what she’d posted had been “wildly misreported” and that one post wasn’t even in reference to Palestine at all. 

The actress, who is now starring on Broadway, replied, “Those people still deny that what’s going on is a genocide. So, we’re never going to see eye to eye on that… 

“I mean the people that accused me of being antisemitic, and the people that run Spyglass. And they’re wrong. Just factually wrong.”

The conversation soon turned to Scream, with Stern saying, “At least Jenna Ortega dropped out.” 

However, Barrera responded, “That’s not the reality of things… I got some messages of support from people in the industry, but what I found is that private messages with no action mean nothing.”

Barrera slams Scream 7 as ‘nostalgia-bait’

Stern then offered his thoughts that Scream 7 “sucked”, to which Barrera responded, “I know. And I think they lied about the numbers. I don’t think it made that much money. 

“But at the stage door, I sign ‘Scream’ things every night. People who love me from those movies are coming to see the show, and they can’t ever take that away from me.”

For context, the horror film made just over $207million worldwide, against a $45 million budget. 

Stern also mentioned the fact that Spyglass brought back original Scream cast members Neve Campbell and Matthew Lillard after her, Ortega, and the directors dropped out, asking if it seemed “scabby” to her. 

“Oh, one hundred percent. I think they all are,” Barrera said. “And they have to live with that. The only way they were able to make that movie after what happened was to nostalgia-bait as much as possible.”

Scream 7 fans are now turning on Barrera

Even though she faced a wave of support when she was fired, Barrera is now receiving a lot of hate from a certain corner of the internet.

 

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Over on her latest Instagram post, the comments section is packed full of Scream 7 fans. “How does it feel to know Scream made more money without you?” wrote one. 

Another said, “Get over, Scream 7 was better without you,” while a third added, “Did you for a while think that you carried Scream 5 and 6? lmao such an embarrassment.”

A fourth chimed in, “Why is everyone acting like she said she owned Scream when she’s only done two movies?”

But for all of the hate, there are just as many messages of support. “Never feel bad for doing what’s right,” said one, while another wrote, “Just read the Variety article. Thank you for taking a stand for what’s right.”

A third added, “People still hung up on Scream movies like it’s the 90s… Newsflash she’s doing fine without it.”

Featured image credit: Paramount Pictures