Melissa Barrera isn’t revealing any further details about her abrupt departure from the Scream film franchise.
“I’m just so grateful [for] what I got to infuse in the franchise, and that’s something I’ll be proud of forever,” Barrera, 33, told Deadline while attending the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, January 18. “We’re family for life.”
Barrera appeared to hint that there’s no bad blood between herself and the cast, especially after she reunited with Jenna Ortega, Skeet Ulrich, Jack Quiad and more Scream stars at the Evening Before Gala on Saturday, January 13.
“If we’re ever in the vicinity of each other, we always find each other and that’s what happened at that event,” Barrera said on Thursday. “When we find each other, we just want to spend the night with each other, and nothing is ever going to change that.”
News that Barrera had been fired from the Scream franchise reboot first broke in November 2023. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Barrera’s departure came after she posted pro-Palestine messages via social media amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. (Barrera made her debut as final girl Sam Carpenter in 2022’s Scream and reprised the role for Scream VI the following year.)
“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,” a spokesperson for Spyglass Media Group shared in a statement to Variety regarding the Barrera’s firing.
Barrera, for her part, subtly responded to the news the following day.
“First and foremost I condemn Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,” the actress shared in an Instagram Story post. “I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people.”
Barrera explained that “as a Latina, a proud Mexicana,” she feels a “the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard” and attempts to use her social media as a way to “raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need.”
While she didn’t address her firing head-on, Barrera continued her message, writing, “Every person on this earth … deserves equal human rights, dignity and, of course, freedom.”
Amid the controversy, the director of the upcoming Scream VII, Christopher Landon, made it clear firing the film’s star was not his decision.
“This is my statement: 💔 Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make,” he shared in a since-deleted post via X.
It has since been revealed that Ortega, who played Barrera’s character’s half-sister, Tara Carpenter, would not be returning to the Scream franchise for the next film either. Deadline reported in November 2023 that Ortega’s departure is due to her Wednesday filming schedule.
