As reported by Variety on Tuesday, November 21st, actress Melissa Barrera has been fired from the upcoming seventh installment of the Scream franchise over her criticism of Israel.
The outlet reported that it was Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind Scream VII, that made the decision to remove Barrera from the upcoming film, over what was described simply as “social media posts” by the source. Spyglass declined to comment on the report.
While not confirmed by Variety, film news sites and social media accounts also pointed out that late last month, Barrera was no longer cast in the upcoming horror film God’s Country, having been replaced by Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova.
Variety pointed to a specific Instagram Story post by Barrera that resulted in her sudden firing, in which Barrera referred to Israel as having “colonized” Palestine.
Social media users have picked up on past screenshots from Barrera’s Instagram story, which include the quote Variety cited.
Barrera, a Mexican actress, wrote “I too come from a colonized country,” followed by the Mexican flag. “Palestine WILL be free.”
Variety‘s source also stated that Barrera’s social media posts “floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media,” and included a partial quote, citing the segment “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
Pop culture media account @popcrave on Twitter obtained a screenshot of one of the second Instagram story, with the full quote by Barrera.
“I have been actively looking for videos and information about the Palestinian side for the last 2 weeks or so, following accounts etc. Why? Because western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself,” Barrera said on an unspecified date.
“Usually the algorithm on social media gets the gist. Well… My discover page on IG will ONLY show me videos showing and talking about the Israeli side. Censorship is very real,” Barrera continued. “Palestinians know this, they know the world has been trying to make them invisible for decades. Keep sharing.”
While Barrera has not put out a formal statement, she alluded to her firing on more recent Instagram story posts, sharing a pre-existing post that says, “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.”
The same Variety report confirming Barrera’s firing also stated that Academy Award-winning actress and activist Susan Sarandon had been dropped by her talent agency, UTA, for comments made at a pro-Palestinian rally. Sarandon’s statement that resulted in her firing is said to be in particular, “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.”
The report also stated that Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise held a meeting with another talent agency, CAA, over Maha Dakhil, Cruise’s long-time agent who was fired from the agency several weeks ago. Dakhil was dropped by the agency for referring to Israel’s ongoing occupation as a “genocide,” resulting in her ousting from the agency’s internal board.