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The future of the Scream franchise is in turmoil after the lead of the last two films, Melissa Barrera, was fired from Scream 7 after sharing her views on the Israel-Hamas conflict on Instagram. This prompted speculation about whether Barrera's co-star and on-screen sister Jenna Ortega would also leave the franchise.
On October 7 Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages to the Gaza Strip, according to numbers from the Associated Press. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza.
Barrera appeared as Sam Carpenter in 2022's Scream (the fifth outing of the franchise) and Scream 6 alongside Ortega, who played her onscreen sister Tara Carpenter. It was revealed in Scream 5 that Sam was the daughter of the original Ghostface, Billy Loomis, tying her character into the mythology of the franchise.
Among her thoughts on the conflict, Barrera shared messages calling for a ceasefire as well as reposting an article that accused Israel of committing "genocide" in its strikes on Gaza.
After the news broke, fans questioned whether Ortega will appear in the Scream franchise going forward now that her "sister" is no longer linked to the project, with many calling for a boycott of the franchise.
The day after news of Barrera's firing broke, Deadline reported that Ortega will not be starring in Scream 7 either — although her exit is reportedly not linked to Barrera's dismissal.
According to Deadline, conversations about Ortega exiting the franchise began before the recently-concluded SAG-AFTRA strike, which started in July. At the time, no Scream script was available, and with Ortega set to start filming Season 2 of Netflix's Wednesday in April — along with her role in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice 2, which is still in production — she could not commit to the project.
Ahead of the news of Ortega's departure, one fan on X, formerly Twitter, said: "I hope Jenna Ortega quits Scream 7. I believe it would be the right thing to do. #Boycott."
Another commented: "I'm waiting for Jenna Ortega to announce her departure from scream 7."
"Praying Jenna Ortega drops from Scream 7. She doesn't need that movie but they definitely need her. She's the only reason the box office was as good as it was," a third added
"If I was Jenna Ortega I would leave Scream 7 and just get my checks from Wednesday."
Ortega's portrayal of Wednesday Addams in Netflix's Wednesday catapulted the series into the zeitgeist and earned it a speedy Season 2 renewal — it's currently Netflix's most watched English-language series of all time with over 1.7 billion hours viewed, beating Stranger Things and Bridgerton, and second only to Korean drama Squid Game in overall view hours.
Ortega has also been vocal in support of Palestinians in the past and was once compared to Ye, formerly, Kanye West, over their shared "antisemitic hate".
Last year, she shared several links on social media to various resources to help civilians in areas of conflict, with one link to a site called Decolonize Palestine. Her previous support for Palestinians prompted many to speculate that Ortega might quit Scream 7 in solidarity with Barrera.
A loyal fan quested: "Do they really think Jenna Ortega is gonna stand for this? Someone who's also very vocal about Palestine? I wouldn't be surprised if she follows suit. Throw the whole f****** movie away. #BoycottSCREAM7."
Another chimed in: "Jenna Ortega has been showing support for Palestine for years as well, if she gets "dropped" who else is going to carry this already dead franchise on their back? #BoycottScream7."
"Wait till they find out Jenna Ortega also supported Palestine and is practically their money maker right now," a social media user added.
A spokesperson from Spyglass Media Group, one of the production companies for Scream 7 told Variety on Tuesday that Barrera was released due its "zero tolerance" policy on "antisemitism" and "hate speech."
They said: "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."
Newsweek has reached out to Jenna Ortega's publicist via email for comment.
Update 11/23/23, 3:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further details.
