If you went to sleep early last night, you missed one of the most ridiculously volatile evenings in film news in quite some time. And believe it or not, it all revolves around the rebooted “Scream” franchise, which is now without a leading lady. But that’s not really the controversial part.
According to Variety (and every other trade publication), the studio behind the “Scream” franchise, Spyglass, has decided to fire actor Melissa Barrera as they prepare to begin work on “Scream VII.” Why would a studio unceremoniously boot the lead actor in their hugely popular film franchise as they are preparing to begin filming? Well, Melissa Barrera (along with so, so, so many more people) has been incredibly vocal with her support for a ceasefire in Gaza. Specifically, she has gone on social media to condemn the killing of thousands of Palestinians during the past couple months of increased volatility in the Middle East. And well, in a world where everything is politicized and no one can discuss things in a rational way, Spyglass has decided that referring to what is happening to Palestinians as genocide or ethnic cleansing is the equivalent of “anti-Semitism” and “hate speech.”
Here’s the official statement from the studio explaining the firing:
“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.”
Without getting into the nitty gritty of the tragic news coming out of Gaza (if you aren’t following along, there are plenty of resources to get you up to speed), this news about Barrera’s firing has ignited a debate amongst film fans. Just from a cursory glance of social media, it would appear that most people are aghast as the news, worrying that perhaps the decision to fire the star over comments that seem mostly harmless could have cascading effects in the film industry.
Will other stars find themselves in hot water for supporting something like this? What about the seeming double-standard of firing someone who didn’t actually say anything anti-Semitic (without adding your own spin to the comments) when there is someone like Mel Gibson getting work in major productions who has said some truly horrific things (with audio recordings to prove it) in the past? Needless to say, there’s a lot of questions and concerns from fans and people in the industry, but there doesn’t seem to be any real answers coming anytime soon.
Barrera, for her part, has kept quiet over the past 12 hours, only posting a story on her Instagram (only briefly before deleting it) which featured a meme that said, “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.”
The only other person involved in the upcoming sequel, who posted any sort of response, is director Christopher Landon. He tweeted (and quickly deleted) something saying, “This is my statement. Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Obviously, this is a developing story, and we don’t know how far it’ll go. How will Barrera’s co-stars react? Will there be more comments about what happened? And obviously, we would love to know what Barrera is thinking about what has happened.
