In her first social media post after Spyglass confirmed she was dropped from the upcoming sequel due to her posts about Isral-Hamas war, the actress claims that she condemns 'Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.'
- Nov 23, 2023
AceShowbiz - Melissa Barrera has broken her silence following her "Scream 7", also written as "Scream VII", firing. Having no regret for using her platform to voice her thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war which cost her her job, the actress said that "silence is not an option" for her.
On Wednesday, November 22, the "Scream VI" star posted her first statement following her firing via her Instagram Story. "First and foremost I condemn Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia," she stated. "I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people."
The 33-year-old explained her cause, "As a latina, a proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard, and therefore I have tried to use it to raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need."
"Every person on this earth- regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic status- deserves equal human rights, dignity and, of course, freedom," she insisted. "I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism."
"I pray day and night for no more deaths, for no more violence, and for peaceful co-existence. I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom," Barrera added, before concluding her statement by saying, "Silence is not an option for me."
Spyglass Media Group confirmed on Tuesday that Barrera was dropped from the cast for the upcoming movie due to her posts about the conflict in Middle East. "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," the company said.
"Scream VII" director Christopher Landon also spoke up on the move, claiming that he had no power to make the decision. "This is my statement: Everything sucks," he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make," he added in the same tweet, which has since been removed from his account.
Weighing in on the news, Rowan Blanchard blasted Hollywood over its alleged "insidious" move for getting rid of some players in the industry for voicing their support to Palestine in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war.
"This is very real. Every actor/ person in Hollywood I know that has been vocal online about the cleansing of the Palestinian people since 2018 (during the Great March of Return) to now has faced consequences/ or given warnings from their agencies, management, and casting," the 22-year-old actress wrote on her Instagram Story. She went on stressing, "This s**t is very insidious and it goes on from the top down."
Blanchard, who has been vocal about her support to Palestine herself, was reacting to a Variety article that talked about how Hollywood has been divided over the conflict in Middle East. According to the site, CAA agent Maha Dakhil, whose tops clients include Tom Cruise, was relieved of her duties as co-chief of the motion pictures department due to her Instagram posts condemning genocide in Palestine.
