Actress Melissa Barrera has recently spoken out about being fired from "Scream" to THR. THR reports that "several agents and managers" who talked to THR about Melissa Barrera told THR that they "believe that Barrera hurt some of her projects by speaking out in support of Palestine":
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Melissa Barrera on Getting Fired From ‘Scream’ and the Controversy That Followed
Just months after her exit from the horror franchise over pro-Palestine social media posts, the actress is back with Universal’s ‘Abigail’ — and is still active online: “It seems weird to have a platform and not use it.”
www.hollywoodreporter.com
It was another high point in a career that was filling up with them. Melissa Barrera was in Dublin, finally back on set after a long actors strike and working on the horror feature Abigail, which reunited her with friends and frequent collaborators Radio Silence. The directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett brought Barrera to new levels of fame when they tapped her to lead the 2022 franchise reviver Scream, and she was looking forward to playing her role as Sam Carpenter for a third time down the road, with Freaky helmer Christopher Landon attached to direct. But then she got the call that would come to dominate the next few months of her life and make her the subject of intense scrutiny.
Spyglass, the production company behind Scream, was firing her from the franchise over social media posts she'd shared to Instagram Stories after Hamas' Oct. 7 unprovoked attack in which 240 hostages were taken and 1,200 were killed, and Israel's subsequent invasion of Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and a humanitarian crisis.
One, posted just two weeks after the Hamas massacre, read, "Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING." In another post, Barrera wrote that she was having trouble finding information supporting the Palestinian side and added what many perceived as a longtime antisemitic trope about Jewish control of the media, "Western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself."
Spyglass characterized her posts as antisemitic in a Nov. 21 statement announcing her firing. "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," read the statement. The actress noted in her own statement the next day that she condemns "hate and prejudice of any kind" and aims to "lend my voice to those in need." Barrera's comment came as Israel was recovering from the deadliest one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and at a time when anti-Jewish incidents and assaults were sharply on the rise across the world. But in the months that followed, the actress has maintained that she does not see why her posts were controversial, instead saying they were aimed at supporting those suffering from war.
Reports at the time suggested that WME was also considering dropping Barrera over her stance, but the actress says she always felt supported by her reps. "It's definitely hard, because I was just in such a cloudy state of mind, but I was very fortunate," she says through tears as she recalls the turbulent moment. "I had a lot of support from the people around me: my team and specifically my publicists — they just carried me."
"Melissa is incredibly strong," Scream and Abigail co-director Bettinelli-Olpin tells THR in his first public comments on the matter. "You see it in her performances. When you're friends with her, you feel it in just being with her." Still, it's clear that the past several months have taken a toll. "None of this makes me happy," Barrera says about the fallout. "It was just all sad because I really, deeply care about the franchise. It's just bad that it had to happen like that."
It took Barrera quite some time to find her voice. Born in Monterrey, Mexico, the actress says she was a "cripplingly shy" child who, when she would pick up meals for her family, recorded audio of her mother giving her the fast food order and then played back the tape for the person working at the counter, all to avoid speaking in public.
Several agents and managers THR spoke to believe that Barrera hurt some of her projects by speaking out in support of Palestine. But they say it was a not a permanent strike against her, given that public sentiment has shifted somewhat as details about the humanitarian crisis emerge. "Before it was, 'How dare you,' but now her comments are being seen more positively," says one top dealmaker.
Brendan Gall, co-creator of the 2022 Netflix series Keep Breathing that starred Barrera as the lone survivor of a plane crash, tells THR about her Scream firing, "It broke my heart, just knowing the kind of human being Melissa is. She comes from a place of caring and deep empathy, and that's what she was trying to express."
Some stars have been outspoken on Gaza without as much blowback, such as Mark Ruffalo, who also has supported Glazer's speech and applauded him at the Oscars. Barrera says she thinks women of color are granted less freedom to express themselves. "It's very evident that that's the case," she says. "All I can say is that it is very important for me to raise my voice for those who don't have one. It seems weird to have a platform and not use it for that." Despite reports that she was given a warning from Spyglass to tone down her posts before being let go, Barrera refutes this and emphasizes, "Not at all."
Since her Scream ordeal, she makes a point of supporting others who face backlash for being vocal online: "Now when I see someone going through something like that, I'm constantly checking in, because I know what it feels like." This has included sending a message to Ava DuVernay to commend her 2023 drama Origin, which spurred debate over its lack of awards attention. "What you're doing is what we should all be doing," Barrera wrote to the filmmaker.
While she doesn't rule out a potential return to Scream, Barrera is realistic about the odds. "I've learned to never say never, but also a lot of things would have to happen for Sam to come back," she says. "For now, next page, next chapter, and then we'll see what the future holds."
