Melissa Barrera sparks controversy with new social media posts over the Israeli-Gaza conflict
Melissa Barrera has come under more scrutiny after a new series of social media posts on the subject of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Back in November, Barerra – who plays Sam Carpenter in 2022’s Scream and sequel Scream VI – was dropped from the upcoming seventh instalment of the horror franchise after writing an Instagram post in support of Palestine.
In a post on her Instagram Stories, the Mexican-born actor wrote: “I too come from a colonized country. Palestine WILL be free. They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” In another post, she added: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where 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 & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
Barrera’s removal from the project caused some fans of the franchise to call for people to boycott the films.
Now, Barrera is under renewed attention after a post on her Instagram that urged her followers to donate to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The link states that it is raising funds “for all the martyrs in Gaza and the West Bank”.
The post is deemed particularly controversial as it arrived the day after allegations surfaced in the Wall Street Journal that 12 staff at the UN organisation had directly participated in Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Israel. The US and several other countries announced that they were freezing all donations to the group as a result of the story.
Variety reports that as a result of Barrera’s post, her talent agencies WME and Sugar23 are considering dropping her as a client.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she spoke about the furore: “I’m not the first person that’s happened to, but it was shocking. I don’t even know what to say. I think everything that happened was very transparent, on both sides, and I know who I am, and I know that what I said always came from a place of love and a place of humanity and a place of human rights and a place of freedom for people, which shouldn’t be controversial.”
She continued: “It shouldn’t be up for debate. So, I’m very at peace. The people who know me in my family know the truth about me and where I stand, and I think most people in the world also do.”
Elsewhere in that interview, Barrera spoke of Jenna Ortega, who similarly exited the project a week after her firing. While it was later revealed that Ortega had already been planning to leave the Scream franchise prior to Barrera’s abrupt firing, Barrera said of her former co-star: “Listen, Jenna is a good egg. She’s a good person and we love each other. She would show up for me and I would show up for her no matter what.”
Back in December, Scream 7‘s director Christopher Landon confirmed he left work on the project. The Happy Death Day director had been announced to be helming the seventh instalment in August, and it would have marked his debut in the Scream franchise.
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Max Pilley
NME
