Melissa Barrera (Monterrey, 36 years old) seemed destined to become one of the main representatives of the new generation of horror film queens, now led by actresses like Mia Goth or Inde Navarrette. After debuting as the main protagonist of Scream in 2022 and repeating — and surviving — in the role of Sam Carpenter a year later, in Scream VI, it seemed highly unlikely that the Mexican actress would not continue to lead the main cast of this very famous American slasher franchise. However, in November 2023 the actress was fired as part of the cast of Scream 7 — released last February — just after she began posting messages on her Instagram profile — with 1.6 million followers — criticizing the killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government, comparing Gaza to a concentration camp, and sharing links to raise funds for Palestinian NGOs. “I was the perfect scapegoat,” Barrera summarized last May, who now stars in the musical Titaníque on Broadway.
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One of Barrera’s main criticisms was the little support she received from colleagues in the film industry. “I received some messages of support from people in the sector, but I realized that private messages that are not accompanied by concrete actions are useless,” she said. As if taking it personally, this Wednesday, September 16, actor Matthew Lillard (Michigan, 56 years old), who returned to the horror franchise in Scream 7, spoke out in favor of who would have been his co-star. “Barrera was on the right side of history,” he said in a recent Q&A session that went viral on TikTok.
The actor who plays Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo movies admits he feels bad and ashamed for having resumed his role as Stu Macher in the seventh installment of Scream after what he considers an unfair dismissal of the Mexican actress. “Melissa Barrera, who is a wonderful actress, was fired for what she said… That’s real bullshit and it’s very hard,” Lillard acknowledged. “I’ll just say that when that happened to Melissa, the whole world went silent. She was about a year ahead of the question: ‘What the hell is going on?’. The whole world should have raised their voice and said: ‘She’s right,’ and they didn’t. And that’s brutal,” he reflected.
@cocteautriplets He took accountability and had an uncomfortable conversation #edsheeran #matthewlillard #scream #scarymovie
♬ original sound – 🦋
Lillard confesses to the audience that he should have said no to the proposal to return to the horror franchise, but he was so excited about his comeback that he didn’t think about the implications of accepting the job. “I was wrong. I’m on the wrong side of history on that,” he admitted. After the film’s release last February, he says some fans criticized his decision to participate after what happened. “And I thought: ‘Fuck, that’s brutal. I feel bad about it, I’m ashamed.’ Because at that moment I was so excited to come back that I didn’t really think about Melissa or the implications, and I didn’t say ‘no’. And I’m ashamed, that’s the truth,” he emphasized.
After Barrera’s dismissal, the company behind the Scream franchise, Spyglass Media Group, stated that its position was “unequivocally clear.” “We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or hate incitement in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion, or anything that flagrantly crosses the line of hate speech,” the company defended itself. After the news broke, Jenna Ortega left Scream 7, as did the director who was going to lead it, Christopher Landon — a task that ended up falling to the franchise’s original creator and screenwriter, Kevin Williamson. “It wasn’t about money or scheduling issues. Melissa’s situation had just happened and everything was falling apart,” Ortega confessed in May 2025 in an interview with The Cut.
The video of Matthew Lillard circulating on TikTok compares the actor’s statements with Ed Sheeran’s evasive response after Macklemore was removed as the opening act of his U.S. tour for publicly showing support for Palestine during his performances as the British artist’s opener. “Matthew Lillard being a better person than Ed Sheeran could ever be,” highlights the text featured in the clip. After Sheeran’s lack of support for the American rapper, several artists who continued participating in his tour —Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe, and the Irish band Beoga— showed their solidarity with Macklemore and announced their departure from Sheeran’s tour.
