Recently, 21-year-old Jenna Ortega, who has been seen in a couple of hit movies and the recent Netflix hit “Wednesday,” which was released in 2023, has been noted to be in support of her co-star from the movie “Scream VI.” Melissa Barrera
Barrera has been a pro-Palestine supporter and has been posting posts that go against Israel in this Israel-Palestine war, due to which she had to face a barrier in her career. Spyglass Media Group has fired Barrera from being featured in Scream VII.
Ortega has already dropped the opportunity of Scream VII for her upcoming shoot schedule for Wednesday season 2, as confirmed by Variety, which is probably going to be released in 2024. Since the news of Ortega’s dropout from the horror franchise broke out a day after Barrera was fired, it is guessed that her decision could be an effect of Barrera’s firing.
Why has Barrera been fired?
On October 7, 2023, Hamad killed 1200 Israelis and took 240 people hostage, which led to the start of war between Israel and Hamas. In response to the surprise attack that Hamas launched, Israel has also attacked Gaza on the basis of the belief that it is run by Hamas, which has caused a lot of destruction and the deaths of 15000 Palestinians (GAZA).
Many celebrities have come forward in support of Palestine, among which Malissa Barrera is also the one who’s been posting a lot in support of Gaza and is, to date, talking about the war.
While talking about Israel, she used words like “colonized land” and their unwarned terrifying attacks as “genocide and ethnic cleansing.” Due to this step taken by Barrera, she’s been penalized by getting fired from the horror franchise movie “SCREAM.”
Barrera also added that it was an antisemitic trope regarding the relationship between Jews and the media. She also stated that she wasn’t able to find any information posts in regard to what the Palestinians have been facing and bashed the media by saying, “Because Western media only shows the other side.”
Spyglass Media Group (formerly Spyglass Entertainment), the production house of the horror franchise movie, broke out the reason behind their decision to fire Barrera, which they said wasn’t entirely due to her supporting the Palestinians but due to comments she’s been making that they found to be deviating into antisemitic territory.
In defense of their decision, they said, “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,” through a person on behalf of the studio to the Variety.
“Spyglass firing Barrera” has become a top-notch topic of discussion among the public on social media as well. A larger percentage of people are in support of her decision to stand firm when talking about the war. This support could become a barrier for the movie even before its release.
After Barrera got fired, a statement by director Christopher Landon was posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, which he later deleted, saying that “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make,” which means that the public has already started reacting to this decision of the Spyglass Media Group.
Is there any connection between Ortega’s quitting and Barrera’s firing from Scream VII?
Ortega and Barrera have worked together as co-stars in “Scream” 2022 (the revival of the series) and in its sequel “Scream VI” this year as Tara (Jeena Ortega) and Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera). The horror franchise achieved a great response with 16.9 crores USD at the box office, and its return with “Scream VII” was announced by director Christopher Landon.
Jeena Ortega has also been a part of the Netflix hit “Wednesday,” which also confirmed its shooting for Season 2, and this decision of her not being a part of Scream 7 could be because of the shooting schedule of Wednesday’s shooting schedule. Ortega has also been seen as pro-Palestine.
Ortega is also a part of Tim Burton’s upcoming film “Beetlejuice 2,” whose shooting was on pause since the SAG-AFTRA strike began, and now the strike is over, Ortega has to wrap up her shooting for the film as well. Though the production dates for Wednesday season 2 have yet to be announced, they will be done soon.
Henceforth, as the current visible scenario and since Jeena Ortega has also not said a word in regard to her decision having any connection with Barrera getting fired, it can be said that Ortega’s exit from Scream 7 does not have any connection to Barrera being fired from it. Ortega stands and sticks with her co-star in her firm decision.
