LOS ANGELES — Actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the upcoming film “Scream VII” after remarks she made condemning brutal, senseless, and often shocking killings in Gaza.
“It’s unfortunate that Ms. Barrera feels this way,” said Gary Barber, CEO of Spyglass Media Group. “It just totally goes against our vision for the movie. I mean, a lead actress in a slasher who doesn’t like horrible, pointless violence? That would be like Lin Manuel Miranda coming out against quirky little raps, or Adam Sandler denounced fart jokes. No one would hire them anymore! Melissa’s perspective is completely inconsistent with the work we’re trying to produce, so we had to let her go.”
Barrera released a statement saying she was shocked by the news while also defending her original post.
“Their logic doesn’t make sense,” wrote Barrera in an Instagram story. “Let me be clear: while I condemn genocide in Gaza, I fully support all of the violence in the Scream franchise and all other violence in mass media. In fact, I advocate for it and think it’s very cool.”
“Ghostface’s brutal kills are indiscriminate and not targeted based on ethnicity, location, or religion. Different thing.”
Many horror fans were confused by the decision.
“I honestly didn’t know you could get fired from a slasher movie,” said Ralph Preston, who hosts a horror movie podcast with two of his friends. “They pretty much take anybody. You don’t even have to be able to act. Emma Roberts is a horrible person, and she still gets cast. Marilyn Manson and Glenn Danzig have both been in horror films. I just don’t see how what Melissa said is beyond the pale.”
At press time, a leaked script revealed that the plot of Scream VII involved the protagonists hiding inside a hospital, forcing Ghostface to kill everyone within.
