Former Scream star Melissa Barrera is opening up about a possible return to the beloved horror movie franchise after she was fired for publicly supporting the Palestinian people amid the war in Gaza.
“Would you, if the Scream folks were to call back, do you think you would ever return to that world?” reporter Kate Schroeder asked the actress, 36, in a podcast interview shared on Friday, September 25.
“Not with the company that currently holds the rights,” Barrera, who starred as Sam Carpenter in 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI before she was let go ahead of the seventh installment. “I love the franchise. I had an amazing time making those movies but a lot of the hate and the difficulty that I’ve faced in the last years is because the leadership of that company made it a point to label me something that I’m not. And they never apologized, even when I was proven right.’
She continued, “Even with an apology I wouldn’t go back to work with them, so… not that I’m holding my breath. I don’t think they have that ability. But if the franchise were to ever leave those hands and go into hands that I think would honor Wes Craven’s legacy more, I think… yeah.”
Spyglass Media Group, which produces the Scream films, fired the actress in November 2023, citing her social media posts opposing Israel and the United States’ ongoing war in Gaza after the deadly October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas. To date, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry as reported by the Associated Press, including more than 20,000 Palestinian children, per the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry.
“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,” the company claimed in a statement released at the time, addressing Barrera’s unceremonious exit.
Barrera’s advocacy has once again made headlines in the wake of the ongoing controversy surrounding singer Ed Sheeran and Seattle rapper Macklemore, who was let go from the former’s Loop Tour after voicing his own support of the Palestinian people in opposition of genocide and human rights violations in every form.
“It made me emotional, you know,” Barrera told the Associated Press in a September 16 interview of Mackelmore’s steadfast advocacy and the subsequent response, which ultimately included the remaining acts in Sheeran’s tour dropping out in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian people.
“I didn’t get that when it happened to me,” she continued at the time. “I didn’t have any of that happen. It was too soon. People were too scared. But it’s good to see that almost three years later, at least things have changed.”
Matthew Lillard, Barrera’s former costar and one of the original 1996 Scream stars, also expressed his regret for not supporting Barrera after she was fired.
“When that happened to Melissa, the whole world didn’t pipe up,” Lillard said during a Q&A session held during a 30th anniversary screening of the original film earlier this month. “But she was a year early on what the f***’s going on. But the whole world should have popped up and said, ‘She’s right.’ And they didn’t. And that’s brutal.”
He added at the time, “I went back to do Scream, and I got called out. And I’m like, ‘Oh, f***. That’s brutal.’ I feel bad about that. I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and that journey I didn’t say no. I blew that. I’m on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie [but] it may not have been the best idea.”
