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‘Scream VII’ star CUT from slasher film after posting pro-Hamas rhetoric

November 22, 2023 | | Print Article

Exercising “zero tolerance for antisemitism,” one Hollywood studio cut a leading lady from their next slasher film after she posted pro-Hamas rhetoric.

As supporters rallied around 33-year-old Melissa Barrera, the Mexican-born actress who had been slated to reprise her “Scream VI” role in the series’ next installment, most appeared to turn a blind eye to the most egregious commentary offered or wholly agreed with her sentiments.

In one missive plastered on her Instagram story, the actress contended, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water…People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

In another instance, likening her native land to the people in Gaza, Barrera wrote, “I too come from a colonized country…Palestine WILL be free…’they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.'”

Image via Instagram

Due to her rhetoric, Variety reported that Spyglass Media Group, the production company planning “Scream VII,” had “quietly dropped Melissa Barrera as the star” for the next film.

A statement from a Spyglass spokesperson read, “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.”

Another post from the actress expressed her distaste at the coverage of the Israel-Hamas war as she lamented, “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.”

“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,” she argued. “Palestinians know this, they know the world has been trying to make them invisible for decades. Keep sharing.”

The rampant antisemitism cropping up on social media, for which a number of Jewish celebrities had confronted TikTok, played out as users backed Barrera’s views and even called for her co-star Jenna Ortega to boycott the production over the decision to oust the actress.

The decision to drop Barrera comes as actress Susan Sarandon faced her own controversy for aligning herself with Hamas.

As previously reported, Sarandon has been among those seen vocally against Israel as she joined in chants of “from the river to the sea” and told rally-goers “I stand here in my cruelly given white privilege, to say that you don’t have to be Palestinian to stand with the Palestinian people.”

The client of United Talent Agency since 2014 was subsequently dropped, according to The Hollywood Reporter. However, despite leading an Oct. 14 letter that described the Oct. 7 terror attacks as “Hamas militants broke out of Gaza. More than 1,300 Israelis were subsequently killed,” race-centric author Ta-Nehisi Coates remained with UTA.

Kevin Haggerty
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