The actress, who was fired from the upcoming slasher film due to her previous social media posts, doubles down on her support of Palestine after director Christopher Landon dropped out of the project.
- Dec 25, 2023
AceShowbiz - Melissa Barrera has doubled down on her support of Palestine amid "Scream 7", also written as "Scream VII", chaos. The actress has shared a shady holiday post just ahead of Christmas.
On Christmas' eve, Sunday, December 24, the 33-year-old took to her Instagram Story to highlight the conflict in the Middle East. She once again blasted Israel as it continues to try and hunt down Hamas, which is responsible for the initial strike on Israel on October 7.
"I hope this Christmas feels... Weird," Barrera wrote over a picture of Santa on his sleigh passing by a cart carrying wrapped-up bodies. "I hope you can't ignore the fact that you're celebrating the birth of a child who was persecuted and targeted and his parents forced to flee to Egypt."
She continued, "...while right now, millions of Palestinians from that exact part of the world, are being persecuted and targeted and forced to flee their homes while they are indiscriminately and relentlessly bombed. MERRY XMAS."
Barrera's message came after director Christopher Landon announced that he dropped out of "Scream 7" as it has turned into "a nightmare." He shared the news via X, formerly Twitter, on Friday as writing, "I guess now is as good a time as any to announce I formally exited Scream 7 weeks ago."
"This will disappoint some and delight others," he acknowledged, before adding, "It was a dream job that turned into a nightmare. And my heart did break for everyone involved. Everyone. But it's time to move on."
Barrera was previously dropped from the cast of "Scream 7" due to her posts about the Israel-Palestine war. Confirming the news, Spyglass Media Group said in a statement at the time, "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."
Landon lamented the actress' exit, claiming that he had no power to make the decision. "This is my statement: Everything sucks," he reacted on X. "Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make," he added in the same tweet, which has since been removed from his account.
Recently, it was reported that Spyglass tried to get Barrera to return to the film following backlash over her firing. However, the actress refused to comply with the studio's wishes, which allegedly included publicly retracting her support Palestine and condemning anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega, who played Barrera's on-screen sister in 2022's "Scream" and 2023's "Scream VI", is also not returning for the new sequel, though it's said that her departure had nothing to do with Barrera's firing.
