Cliff Notes – Scream 7 trailer reignites boycott after Melissa Barrera was ‘done dirty’ with exit
- Fans are calling for a boycott of Scream 7 following the trailer release, largely due to the firing of actress Melissa Barrera over her pro-Palestinian social media posts, which were labelled antisemitic by the production company.
- Barrera’s absence from the film, where she was set to reprise her role as Sam Carpenter, has led to backlash from fans who feel her dismissal was unjust, with many expressing their discontent on social media.
- The new film will feature Neve Campbell returning as Sidney Prescott, shifting focus away from Barrera’s character and her sister, Tara, as they face a new Ghostface killer, prompting mixed reactions from the franchise’s fanbase.
Scream 7 trailer reignites boycott after Melissa Barrera was ‘done dirty’ with exit
Fans are once again calling for a Scream 7 boycott following the official trailer drop.
It comes two years after actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the horror sequel after her pro-Palestinian social media posts were deemed antisemitic by creators.
Barrera has frequently posted about the war, with one of her reposts saying Israel was committing ‘genocide and ethnic cleansing’.
In the aftermath of her axing, Barrera defended her posts.
The 35-year-old Mexican movie star had been due to reprise her role as Sam Carpenter, the protagonist of Scream’s 2022 reboot. She also appeared in Scream VI (2023).
Consequently, with her absence noticeable in the Scream 7 trailer, many once-devout fans of the hit franchise have vowed to stop watching.
Melissa Barrera, pictured here in Scream VI, was axed from the seventh film over her social media posts.
The Mexican actress has repeatedly posted about the Gaza-Israel conflict
Scream 7 welcomes back Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, as, instead of continuing the story of Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s sisters, Sam and Tara, from the past two films, the plot sees Sidney and now her daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), terrorised by a new Ghostface killer.
The trailer shows an unsuspecting Sidney nonchalantly answering a call from an unknown number, which, as longtime Scream viewers will know, is the one decision that changes everything.
On the other end, Ghostface tells her: ‘Hello, Sidney. Did you miss me?
‘Nice little town you’ve found, you and your pretty daughter. Reminds me of where we grew up.’
As Sidney attempts to silence the caller, he retorts: ‘I’m not hiding, Sidney.’
What ensues is a game of cat-and-mouse as Sidney and her daughter go to extremes to bring down Ghostface and, perhaps more importantly, stay alive.
Neve Campbell is back for Scream 7
This time, the killer is targeting both Sidney and her daughter.
While the next Scream movie looks certain to be more suspenseful than ever, that clearly isn’t enough to make everyone tune in, as social media users are demanding that Barrera and Ortega be brought back and speaking out in their defence.
‘Can’t wait to bootleg it after what yall did to Melissa Barrera!’, wrote @Swag_McFly amid the counter responses declaring, ‘We are so back!’ and ‘This looks amazing’.
‘People have not forgotten they fired Melissa Barrera for being a decent human being and speaking up for the children in Palestine. Not happening, easiest boycott ever’, commented @RamiElghandour.
@RAGEEBAIIT added: ‘BOYCOTT Scream. Did my girl Melissa dirty’.
‘Firing Melissa Barrera really set off a chain reaction of terrible decisions that led to this movie being the worst possible version it could’ve been’, raged @durje666.
News of Barrera’s firing broke in November 2023 when production company Spyglass said it had ‘zero tolerance for antisemitism’.
Fans have been divided by the trailer for the next film in the franchise (Picture: Paramount Pictures)
Their official statement on the matter read: ‘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.’
Hitting back, Barrera wrote: ‘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. 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.’
A post the day before was also later interpreted as a dig at those who scrapped her from the film, as she shared the quote: ‘At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include than be included for who I exclude.’
Then, in November 2024, Barrera recalled the firing causing a domino effect on her flourishing career.
Wednesday actress Jenna Ortega also quit the sequel after Barrera’s exit.
They played sisters in the last two films
‘It was quiet for, like, 10 months,’ she explained to The Independent.
‘I was still getting offers for small things here and there—I’m not going to lie and say there was nothing—but [the message] was, “Oh, she probably doesn’t have work; she’ll say yes to anything”.’
On how it impacted her mentally, she added: ‘It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything.
‘There were times when I felt like my life was over.’
Meanwhile, Wednesday lead Ortega, 23, initially cited scheduling conflicts with the Netflix series as her reason for departing Scream.
However, in a later interview with The Cut, she clarified that her exit actually ‘had nothing to do with pay or scheduling’.
‘It was all kind of falling apart. If Scream 7 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.’
As well as Barrera, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who directed Scream (2022) and Scream VI, also left.
Scream 7 will be released on February 27, 2026.