Yahoo Finance Jenna Ortega exits Scream 7 after co-star Melissa Barrera dropped over Israel-Hamas conflict comments
Jenna Ortega is not expect to reprise her role for Scream 7, according to a new report.
The You star is believed to have dropped out of the sequel due to scheduling conflicts with the second season of her series, Wednesday.
According to Deadline, the 21-year-old’s departure from the film was already being discussed prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike as the Netflix shoot is expected to extend into the summer.
The Standard has contacted representatives for Jenna Ortega and Spyglass Media for comment.
The news comes a day after her co-star Melissa Barrera was dropped from the slasher film franchise after the production company found recent pro-Palestinian social media posts she made were antisemitic.
The Mexico-born actress, 33, joined the franchise in 2022, playing lead Sam Carpenter in its fifth and sixth films alongside Ortega.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the star had been “quietly dropped” from the upcoming sequel over her Instagram posts.
A Spyglass spokesperson told Variety: “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.”
In one post, Barrera had labeled Israel as a “colonized” land and then posted content supposedly containing an antisemitic trope of Jewish people controlling the media.
According to Variety, she wrote in one Instagram Story: “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
The Hollywood Reporter reported that she penned in another: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp.
“Cornering everyone together, with nowhere to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories.
“And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE AND ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
In response to her ‘firing’, Barrera took to her Instagram Story to respond to the reports and wrote: “First and foremost I condemn antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people.
“As a Latina, a proud Mexicana, I feel the responsibility of having a platform that allows me the privilege of being heard, and therefore I have tried to use it to raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need.
“Every person on this earth – regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic status – deserves equal human rights, dignity and, of course, freedom.
“I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism.”
