Summary of this article
Melissa Barrera was fired from the Scream franchise in 2023.
It came on the heels of her pro-Palestine posts on social media.
She's now starting her own company that'll platform pro-Palestine figures.
Melissa Barrera, who was fired from the Scream franchise three years ago over her pro-Palestine stance, criticized her former colleagues for siding with those who fired her. She also said she is starting a production company and wants to work with “anyone pro-Palestine.”
Three years after production company Spyglass dismissed Barrera from her lead role in the movie over her social media posts regarding the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the 35-year-old actor discussed the backlash in a new interview with Variety, in which she called out her former colleagues for siding with the people who fired her. The studio branded her antisemitic. For nearly a year after she was dropped and pushed out from her talent agency, work offers completely dried up. "I was the perfect scapegoat. A woman of colour, on the rise, but not big enough to be untouchable," she told Variety.
Barrera starred as lead character Sam Carpenter in two Scream movies: Scream in 2022 (also known as Scream 5), and Scream VI in 2023. She posted daily messages to her Instagram calling for peace, denouncing the Israeli genocide of Palestinian civilians, and comparing Gaza to a concentration camp. She posted fundraising links to Palestinian human rights organizations.
When she was asked if she thinks there’s been change in Hollywood around Israel and Palestine, she referred to Javier Bardem. “Javier has been vocal about Palestine forever. It’s funny. I thought, “Everyone must be getting affected, I’m sure.” But I have a friend who works closely with Artists for Ceasefire who has access to a lot of these artists, and she gave me the real and said, “No Melissa, they have not been affected at all.” And so that’s why they’re able to be so vocal. So, I thought, “It must be nice to be able to speak your mind and not have to suffer any consequences.” But we do need their voices.”
She said on the list, there would be “basically anyone pro-Palestine. I kept track of the people who vocally came out and said something to defend me at the time. Susan Sarandon. Tatiana Maslany. Hannah Einbinder. Poppy Liu. Obviously, Javier Bardem would be a dream to work with. He doesn’t need me to give him any opportunities.” In November 2023, Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency for speaking out on Palestine.
