Hollywood actress Melissa Barrera has been fired from Scream 7 in a shock move by the studio behind the hugely popular horror franchise.
Barrera played main character Sam Carpenter in Scream 5 and Scream 6, and was expected to once again play a central role in the forthcoming sequel.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Barrera has been dismissed from the sequel due to comments she made about the Israel-Palestine conflict on social media.
Barrera has been a vocal supporter of Palestine throughout the recent conflict, and has been critical of Israel’s actions in numerous social media posts.
The actress had compared the situation in Gaza to “concentration camps” and likened it to “genocide and ethnic cleansing” by the Israeli government. However, she has also expressed sympathy and support for the Jewish community.
In a post made by Barrera on Wednesday, she wrote: “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.”
Following reports of her firing, a backlash from fans swiftly followed on social media platforms with the hashtag “#boycottscream” trending on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Amid the backlash from fans, Spyglass, the studio behind the franchise, released a statement saying it had “zero tolerance” for “false references to genocide”.
A spokesperson clarified Barrera was fired because the studio had interpreted some of her posts as “antisemitic”.
“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,” it said in a statement to Variety.
Filmmaker Christopher Landon, who is slated to take over directing duties on Scream VII after Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett stepped away earlier this year, shared his thoughts on the star’s firing in a now-deleted post.
He tweeted: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Last year, Barrera’s co-star and Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega, faced criticism from some groups on social media after she posted a tweet saying “Decolonize Palestine”.
At the time, The Times of Israel compared the actress to Kanye West.
Currently, none of Barrera’s co-stars have yet to comment on her firing.