A former “Scream” star who was fired after speaking out against Israel is now blasting her ex-castmates for returning to the horror franchise, agreeing they are “scabby” for moving forward without her.
“One hundred percent [they were scabby]. I think they all are,” the anti-Israel actress Melissa Barrera told Variety.
“And they have to live with that,” she added, in comments that could be directed at cast members Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown. They starred with Barrera in the fifth and sixth “Scream” movies. Gooding and Savoy Brown, unlike Barrera, returned for part seven.
“The only way they were able to make that movie after what happened was to nostalgia-bait as much as possible,” Barrera said.
Variety writer Marlow Stern asked, “You were fired from ‘Scream 7.’ Jenna Ortega didn’t return. The director dropped out. But then Spyglass brought back cast members from the prior ‘Scream’ films. Did that seem scabby to you? Did it feel like those were people basically crossing the picket line?”
This prompted Barrera to reply, “Oh, one hundred percent.”
Representatives for Savoy Brown and Gooding did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Barrera was dropped from the horror franchise in late 2023 following backlash over her social media posts about the Israel–Hamas war, including statements in which she accused Israel of genocide amid its response to the Oct. 7 attacks.
One of Barrera’s multiple posts on the war read, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have [learned] nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
At the time of her firing, Spyglass Media Group told Variety that Barrera’s social media posts crossed a line, stating it has “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.”
Barrera fired back shortly after, rebuking the suggestion that her actions constituted antisemitism or the “incitement of hate.”
“I believe a group of people are not their leadership and that no governing body should be above criticism. I pray day and night for no more deaths, for no more violence and for peaceful co-existence,” she told the outlet at the time.
“I will continue to speak out for those that need it most and continue to advocate for peace and safety, for human rights and freedom. Silence is not an option for me.”
Barrera’s firing was followed by further franchise shakeups, with actress Jenna Ortega declining to return and director Christopher Landon eventually stepping away from the film.
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Ortega’s exit was initially chalked up to scheduling conflicts, but the actress later denied those reports, stating, “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. If ‘Scream VII’ wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”
When asked if she received messages of support from others after her firing, Barrera shook her head and said, “That’s not the reality of things…”
“I got some messages of support from people in the industry, but what I found is that private messages with no action mean nothing,” she added.
Variety’s recent coverage explored how Barrera is working to rebuild her career in the wake of the controversy, with the actress continuing to take on new projects while reflecting on the shakeup.
Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
