Actor Jenna Ortega has exited the Scream franchise — reportedly due to a conflicting filming schedule with Wednesday, Netflix’s smash hit. Publications such as Deadline and Variety are denying that this has anything to do with the firing of Ortega’s on-screen sister Melissa Barrera over her pro-Palestine comments. Ortega has expressed strong pro-Palestine views over the years.
Ortega and Barrera played Tara and Sam Carpenter in Scream V and Scream VI and were set to reprise their roles in the seventh instalment of the film.
Barrera’s firing was announced on Wednesday, over ‘antisemitic’ comments she made. “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,” the production company said in a statement.
The company claims she made antisemitic posts when she referred to Israel as a “colonised land” and repeated an antisemitic trope when she posted “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
Though some publications are claiming her exit has nothing to do with Barrera’s firing, the news breaking a day after has left the internet speculating, especially when coupled with the pair sharing similar views on Palestine.
Previously, the film’s director Christopher Landon reacted to Barrera’s exit in a now deleted statement on X (formerly Twitter). “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make,” he said.
