Melissa Barrera was recently dropped from the next Scream movie because of social media posts she shared in support of Gaza that were deemed to be anti-Semitic in nature, and the actress has now addressed her firing (among other things) in a new interview.
Spyglass Entertainment released a statement shortly after the news broke explaining why they decided to drop her from the film, citing "rhetoric that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech."
At the time, Barrera did issue a brief response condemning “hate and prejudice of any kind” and promising to “lend my voice to those in need,” but the actress has now addressed the situation in more detail.
“It’s definitely hard, because I was just in such a cloudy state of mind, but I was very fortunate,” Barrera tells THR. “I had a lot of support from the people around me: my team and specifically my publicists — they just carried me.”
Neve Campbell, who decided not to reprise the role of Sidney Prescott for Scream VI over a pay dispute, recently announced that she will return for Scream VII. Some saw this as a betrayal of sorts, and felt that Campbell should have shown solidarity with her former co-star by refusing to be a part of the movie.
Barrera declined to comment on this, but did reveal that she's spoken to Jenna Ortega, who also dropped out of the next film.
“We chatted for a while, and I love her so much. She’s been very supportive of me, and we’re sisters for life.”
Other high-profile actors - most notably Mark Ruffalo - have shown support for Gaza while denouncing Israel's actions and suffered zero consequences, and Barrera believes this comes down to women of color being granted less freedom to express themselves.
“It’s very evident that that’s the case,” she says. “All I can say is that it is very important for me to raise my voice for those who don’t have one. It seems weird to have a platform and not use it for that.”
In response to reports that she was given a warning from Spyglass to tone down her posts before being let go, Barrera says: “Not at all.”
Barrera has moved past Scream and is now promoting her new horror movie with directors Radio Silence, Abigail, but would she ever consider returning to finish Sam Carpenter's story down the line?
“I’ve learned to never say never, but also a lot of things would have to happen for Sam to come back,” she says. “For now, next page, next chapter, and then we’ll see what the future holds.”
What do you make of Barrera's comments? Would you like to see her back in the Scream franchise at some point? Drop us a comment down below.