‘Scream 7’ Actor Anna Camp Apologizes for Sharing Post That Hit Back at Boycotts Over Melissa Barrera Firing: ‘I Meant No Harm’

Scream 7 star Anna Camp issued an apology for a statement she shared on social media that taunted those who protested the new movie in the wake of Melissa Barrera’s controversial departure from the franchise.

via: EW

The actress, who plays Jessica Bowden in the slasher sequel, reposted an image in support of the film that called out the protests on her Instagram Story over the weekend. Camp later deleted the image and, in a follow-up X post, said that it “does not reflect my personal beliefs” on the subject.

“It has come to my attention that I reposted someone else’s story that does not reflect my personal beliefs,” Camp wrote. “I have since deleted the repost because I absolutely meant no harm. I’m sorry to anyone who was affected.”

The post, which was originally shared by the SCREAM with Ryan C. Showers podcast, read: “The boycott didn’t work. The critics hate didn’t work. The pathetic leaks didn’t work. What worked was audiences coming out and making the film a success.” 

Camp’s repost comes after pro-Palestine protesters held a demonstration outside the Scream 7 premiere in Los Angeles last week in response to Barrera being fired from the franchise in 2023 over social media posts that supported the Palestinian cause and criticized Israel's actions amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The protest — which was organized by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA, and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles — was held to call attention "to the industry’s widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza." 

It is part of a larger Scream 7 boycott campaign, which is urging theatergoers to not support the film.

Barrera seemingly addressed the protest on her own Instagram Story at the time, writing, “I see you.”

Despite the ongoing boycotts, Scream 7 had a killer opening weekend, setting a new franchise record by raking in more than $97 million at the global box office. The film marked the return of several fan favorites to the franchise, including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, Scott Foley, David Arquette, and Matthew Lillard.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Gooding acknowledged that he had to take "my time to grieve" the work he'd done in Scream 5 and 6 while also "trying to find a way to relate to the work that had been done" in the latest installment.

"[It] meant making sure, certainly privately and also professionally, that the understanding of family and collaboration was still present and intact and respected so that whatever the franchise became afterwards, whether or not I was involved, was hopefully done in a way that… The creatives behind it, in this case Kevin and Neve, finding a way to create their collaborative effort after taking so long away from it, getting their recompense, and having the return of their influence on the franchise, hopefully, is just done in a way that you can support that and be respectful to that," he said at the time.

Scream 7 is in theaters now.