Melissa Barrera reveals she hasn’t spoken to former co-star Neve Campbell since Scream firing
Melissa Barrera revealed that she is no longer speaking to her former Scream co-star, Neve Campbell.
The 34-year-old actress said she has not spoken to Campbell, 51, since the latter returned to production of Scream 7 despite Barrera’s firing.
Despite her apparent disappointment, Barrera said she “fully respected” her former co-star’s decision to return to the franchise.
“We haven’t really talked yet,” she said in one Decision maker interview, which was published Friday.
“I think everyone makes their own choices and what they think is best for them,” she said. “I completely respect what people think they have to do to get on in this life.”
Melissa Barrera, 34, revealed that she hasn’t spoken to Scream co-star, Neve Campbell, 51, since she was fired from the franchise; (L) Barrera pictured on October 24, (R) Campbell seen in 2023
This comes after Barrera was fired from the franchise in November 2023 over pro-Palestinian posts.
She previously starred in 2022’s Scream and its 2023 sequel, Scream 6.
Late last year, she was dropped by production company Spyglass Media, saying she “crossed the line into hate speech.”
In November 2023, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, she shared a post on her Instagram Story, saying that Gaza was being “treated like a concentration camp.”
In the same post, she asked if “people haven’t learned from our history” and said, “This is genocide. This is ethnic cleansing.”
The actress, who played Sam Carpenter in the franchise, labeled Israel a “colonized” country and posted content with an anti-Semitic trope about Jewish people controlling the media.
One message read: ‘Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I’ll let you figure it out for yourself.’
She was subsequently dropped by Spyglass Media from her role in the upcoming Scream 7 film.
“I think everyone makes their choices, and what they think is best for them,” she said of Campbell returning to star in Scream 7 after her firing; pictured 2023
Barrera was fired from the franchise in November 2023 due to pro-Palestine posts
Another post complained that she was looking for videos from a Palestinian perspective to share but couldn’t find any in her feed
Barrera later made another post saying she “condemned”[ed] Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. “I condemn hatred and prejudice of any kind against any group of people.”
The production company behind the franchise subsequently released a statement accusing her of “anti-Semitism or incitement to hatred in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, distortion of the Holocaust, or anything that blatantly crosses the line into hate speech statements.’
Shortly after she was fired, her co-star Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon also left Scream VII.
Ortega left the show, citing a scheduling conflict with her series Wednesday as the reason for her departure.
Over the past year, more politicians and celebrities have made similar criticisms and called for a ceasefire, as she had done in her controversial post.
When asked if she had received an apology or been contacted by anyone involved in making the decision to fire her, she said she had received “nothing.”
A few months after Ortega’s departure, Campbell announced that she would return to the franchise.
The actress, who did not appear in Scream 6, announced that she would return for the upcoming installment alongside original Scream director Kevin Williamson.
Earlier this year, Barrera said she doesn’t regret what she said.
She previously starred in 2022’s Scream and its 2023 sequel Scream 6; depicted in 2023’s Scream VI still
Shortly after she was fired, her co-star Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon also left Scream VII.
A few months after Ortega’s departure, Campbell announced that she would return to the franchise; pictured in 2022 Still shouting
‘It wasn’t easy to be labeled something so horrible [as antisemitic] when I knew that wasn’t the case,” she told the Los Angeles Times in April.
“But I was always at peace because I knew I had done nothing wrong,” she continued.
“I was connected to human rights organizations around the world, and to so many experts, scientists and historians and, most importantly, to indigenous peoples around the world,” she added.
“I think indigenous communities around the world are always on the right side of history, point blank, period.”