Melissa Barrera stars in “Scream 5.” (Paramount Pictures)
By Isabella Cantillano-Sanchez
The “Scream” franchise has been a fixture of the horror genre since the release of the first film in 1996. Director Wes Craven revitalized the slasher with his meta approach to the genre, casting talented performers in roles that subverted classic archetypes throughout his tenure at the helm of the franchise. Craven did not shy away from socio-political themes in his work. Like many horror filmmakers of the 1970s, his work was a response to the brutal imagery of the Vietnam War and disillusionment with glamorized Hollywood violence. He once said: “I like to address the fears of my culture. I believe it’s good to face the enemy, for the enemy is fear.” Craven’s final “Scream” film, “Scream IV,” was released in 2011. Craven died in 2015.
The reboot of the franchise occurred in 2022 with the release of “Scream V.” Actresses Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega play sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter, the new primary targets of Ghostface and the Final Girls of this generation. They reprised their roles in “Scream VI” in 2023, and the stories of their characters appeared primed to continue.
In November 2023, Barrera shared several social media posts condemning the ongoing genocide in Palestine and expressing her support for the Palestinian people. One Instagram story stated: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water…THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.” Barrera also posted the following statement: “Western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”
The response of Spyglass, the production company behind the film, was to fire Barrera and issue the following statement: “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.”
Barrera had this to say on Instagram the day after her firing: “First and foremost I condemn Anti-Semitism 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. 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.”
Ortega announced her decision to leave the production of “Scream VII” the day after Barrera’s firing. While her decision was initially attributed to scheduling conflicts, Ortega clarified her decision in an interview with The Cut: “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. If ‘Scream VII’ 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.” Since leaving the production, Ortega has continuously expressed support for Palestine.
In February 2026, The Guardian reported that over 75,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, with over 56% of these deaths comprising of women, children, and elderly people as of January 2026. The United Nations released an article in September 2025 to announce that the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, said that Israel has committed a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The full report can be read here. Two Israeli human rights organizations, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, have also published reports concluding that Israel is committing a genocide. You can read B’Tselem’s report here and Physicians for Human Rights Israel’s here.
To support this film is to support a production company that conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism, a tactic being deployed by many in an attempt to silence those that oppose genocide and colonialism. Spyglass has not retracted its initial statement even after several organizations have concluded that what is happening in Gaza is indeed a genocide. To fire Barrera on the grounds of antisemitism for condemning apartheid is unconscionable, and to refer to her statements as “hate speech” is shameful.
A movement to boycott the film started as a result of Barrera’s firing, but other criticisms regarding the ethics of supporting “Scream VII” include the collaboration of the film with Meta AI. The promotional feature allows fans to insert themselves into scenes from the film using generative AI. The collaboration of a film with generative AI displays the dire times we find ourselves in both artistically and intellectually. It is fundamentally anti-art, which is not a direction the film industry should be moving towards. It is more vital than ever that creative industries not normalize the use of AI, as this only serves to diminish the work of human artists. Aside from its negative environmental and social impacts, use of AI displays a fundamental lack of creativity and respect for art that has no place in spaces that aim to highlight human innovation.
The morally and artistically bankrupt attitudes displayed by Spyglass should not be rewarded, especially when those same attitudes contradict those of the original creator behind the franchise. The company has shown that there is nothing more horrific than a lack of humanity.
