Melissa Barrera says ‘Scream’ firing was ‘shocking’ after studio accused her of ‘Holocaust distortion’
Melissa Barrera says it was "shocking" she was fired from the "Scream" franchise after her social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza were interpreted as antisemitic.
Melissa Barrera continues to open up about her firing from the “Scream” franchise.
Barrera played Sam Carpenter, the daughter of Billy Loomis, in 2022’s “Scream” and 2023’s “Scream 6,” the latter of which set a franchise record with $108 million at the domestic box office.
She was supposed to continue playing the character in the coming “Scream 7,” but she was fired in November after Spyglass, the studio behind “Scream,” interpreted social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as antisemitic.
Barrera previously told The Associated Press that “the last few months have been a big awakening” and “I’m just so grateful for everything that’s happened.” Now she has told Rolling Stone that the posts that led to her firing “shouldn’t be controversial,” as she was just advocating for human rights.
When Spyglass confirmed Barrera’s firing, it issued a statement saying it has “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.”
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