'Scream' Star Melissa Barrera Torches Franchise, Shades Cast as ‘Scabs’ in Brutal Swipe After Firing

Melissa Barrera is not holding back her true thoughts on Scream 7 three years after she was fired from the horror movie franchise for speaking out against Israel.

via: Page Six

The actress shaded the “Scream 7” cast after she was fired from the film for her support of Palestine.

A Variety interviewer asked the actress if she thought it was “scabby” that previous cast members from the franchise returned for the latest film after her firing.

“Oh, one hundred percent. I think they all are,” she said in the interview published Wednesday. “And they have to live with that.”

Barrera, 35, added, “The only way they were able to make that movie after what happened was to nostalgia-bait as much as possible.”

“Scream 7,” which came out in February, welcomed back multiple franchise vets including Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley.

The film is the highest-grossing movie in the franchise, earning $215 million globally — though Barrera doubts that statistic.

“I think they lied about the numbers,” she told Variety. “I don’t think it made that much money.”

Page Six has reached out to production company Spyglass Media and distributor Paramount Pictures for comment.

Barrera was fired from “Scream 7” in November 2023 after she posted certain sentiments about the Israel-Hamas war, which the studio characterized as antisemitic.

The following day, her “Scream 5” and “Scream 6” co-star Jenna Ortega dropped out of the film, which Ortega later said “had nothing to do with pay or scheduling” and “was all kind of falling apart.”

But Barrera insinuated that Ortega’s move wasn’t a show of support, telling Variety, “That’s not the reality of things…”

Barrera explained that while she “got some messages of support from people in the industry” after her firing, there was “no action” taken.

“I had faith. I was like, ‘Someone is going to reach out to me and help me. It’s just a matter of time,” she said, while admitting she went through “ten torturous months of uncertainty, and no work, and suffering” after she was axed from the film.

But Barrera said she still feels the love from “Scream” fans who come to see her star in “Titanique” on Broadway.

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

Barrera previously told Collider that she feels she’s “gotten closure” with her exit from the franchise.

“I feel good. I did what I set out to do,” she explained. “It was always meant to be two movies for me, ’cause that was my contract, and so everything is perfect.”

You can read the full Variety interview here.

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I don't believe Melissa said anything antisemitic. Criticizing Israel over their destruction of Gaza and the daily murder of thousands of men, women and children in Palestine is not antisemitic. To criticize people for causing a genocide, and American tax paying dollars funding said genocide is not antisemitic. And as she said no one is beyond reproach, and Spyglass' decision to fire her showed which side they are on.

I'm just glad she is unapologetically sharing her experience of the matter and has been able to have a career comeback on Broadway.