Melissa Barrera, who played original Ghostface Billy Loomis' daughter in the last two Scream movies, was dropped from the upcoming seventh instalment in the long-running slasher franchise last year after a series of social media posts that were deemed "antisemitic" by the studio.
The actress was set to reprise her co-lead role as Sam Carpenter, but was reportedly fired outright for sharing these "incendiary" comments, with Spyglass Entertainment releasing a statement explaining why they decided to take action shortly after the news broke.
“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.”
Barrera vowed to continue to "raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need," and has done just that on her social media accounts - but it may end up costing her in the long run.
The actress shared a link in her Instagram bio that directed her followers to donate money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to benefit “all the martyrs in Gaza and the West Bank.”
The post gained a lot of attention, in large part due to the fact that Barrera shared the link one day after the Biden administration and several other countries halted aid to the organization in the wake of recent allegations that 12 UNRWA staffers directly participated in the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, including two who took part in kidnappings.
According to Variety, Barrera's representatives, WME and Sugar23, were "poised to drop her as a client" before backtracking, but one source believes that this new post may have been the “final straw," and several insiders feel this could potentially prove to be very damaging to her career.
“Before, WME could hide in the fuzziness and ambiguity of ‘from the river, to the sea’ and the implications of the amateur-hour collegiate activist messaging. But this is blatant terror support,” one unnamed source said.
Barrera seems to be aware of the attention her posts have received, as she recently wrote on Instagram: “Apparently some people are mad that I’m sharing this fundraiser.”
Wherever you may happen to stand on the Israel/Gaza situation, it has clearly become a very touchy subject in Hollywood, so don't be surprised if we begin to see more notable names either speaking up (potentially at the cost of their careers), or choosing to stop weighing in altogether.