A group of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the premiere of Scream 7 at the Paramount lot in Los Angeles last night, prompting journalists to ask director Kevin Williamson and several cast members about Melissa Barrera, who was fired for her social media posts about the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.
Barrera shared posts in support of Gaza that were deemed to be anti-Semitic in nature. 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."
As you can imagine, this did not sit well with a lot of people, and many fans of the long-running slasher franchise have been planning to boycott the seventh instalment for quite some time.
"We live in America, we have the right to protest," Williamson told Deadline on the red carpet. "We have a right to be heard and we have a right to speak to what your truth is, and so I support that."
"We live in a world where a lot of bad things are happening out there, and I think a lot of people want to be heard and they want to have their voice heard about the bad stuff that’s happening," he told Variety. "My heart goes out to them. I don’t know if canceling Paramount+ is the way to do it. But I think people should listen to their inner self and do what feels good for them.”
Williamson wasn't asked about Barrera directly, but Jasmin Savoy Brown (Mindy Meeks) said she remains on good terms with her former co-star.
"Melissa, Jenna, Mason, and I all remain close. We're really good friends. We love each other, we support each other's work. Of course we miss them because we came up in this franchise together, and I'm just so grateful to be back because Mindy means a lot to me. To play a queer, Black character in a franchise like this, visibility matters and I'm really proud to play Mindy."
Barrera posted the following to her Instagram stories on Wednesday night.
Boycotts and protests aside, Scream 7 is expected to have a very successful opening weekend at the box office. Even so, reviews have been mixed-negative, and the movie currently sits at 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.
When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, her darkest fears are realised as her daughter (Isabel May) becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.