In news that rocked the horror movie world this afternoon — the firing of lead actress Melissa Barrera from Scream 7 — the director of that film, Christopher Landon, has responded to the announcement in the form of a since removed social media post.
According to Deadline, Spyglass Entertainment also released a statement regarding the termination putting it in no uncertain terms:
“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 was fired from the upcoming slasher today after she dropped several posts that appeared to support Palestine and were therefore perceived as anti-Semitic. Many commentators on iHorror’s social pages have criticized her termination as a violation of free speech. Others have said she was wrong to post what she did but didn’t deserve to get fired over it.
The question now is how the franchise will move forward. Barrera had essentially become the final girl of the franchise as its original protagonist Neve Campbell gradually seceded her role.