The horror world was rocked yesterday by the news that actress Melissa Barrera has been dropped from the upcoming Scream 7, following a series of controversial social media posts from Barrera that show her support for Palestine, but which Scream production banner Spyglass Media Group has interpreted as anti-Semitic.
Initially mentioned seven paragraphs down a paywalled article in Variety about how Hollywood is divided over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the news set the horror corners of the internet on fire, with some angry fans calling for a boycott of the new film, as well as encouraging Barrera’s creative collaborators to remove themselves from the project.
Variety then published a second article, which included a statement from Spyglass (who had initially declined to comment): “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.” (This second Variety article pointed to one specific Instagram story, in which Barrera shared a screencap of an article in Jewish Currents by genocide scholar Raz Vega, as the offending post.)
Scream 7 has yet to begin filming, and Barrera’s departure likely means a substantial rewrite (and additional delay) is in the cards for the production.
Public reaction in the horror community has been severe, to say the least. Support for Barrera has been loud and massive, while some industry chat groups believe there’s something more going on here to warrant upending such a successful franchise. Either way, it’s a safe bet this story is far from over. We’ll update you on this news as it develops.
