Melissa Barrera fired from ‘Scream 7’ over Israel-Gaza posts

Mexican actress Melissa Barrera, best known for her role as Sam Carpenter in the slasher films "Scream" (2022) and "Scream VI" (2023), has been fired from the next "Scream" film sequel after its makers said her pro-Palestinian social media posts were antisemitic.

The star has posted regularly about the Israel-Gaza conflict, including resharing one post that accused Israel of "genocide and ethnic cleansing". Production company Spyglass said it had "zero tolerance for antisemitism".

Meanwhile, Susan Sarandon has been dropped by her Hollywood agency after speaking at a pro-Palestinian rally. Neither Sarandon, who starred in "Thelma & Louise", nor Mexican actress Barrera have commented on their situations.

However, before her departure was announced, Barrera reshared a quote from another account on her Instagram story, which read: "At the end of the day, I'd rather be excluded for who I include than be included for who I exclude."

That post has been interpreted by some of her followers as a reference to her being sacked from the film.

Barrera has led the previous two "Scream" movies and has also starred in the recent screen version of "Carmen" and the 2021 adaptation of the stage musical "In The Heights".

Other posts shared by Barrera in recent weeks have included one about distorting the Holocaust "to boost the Israeli arms industry" and another saying Gaza was "currently being treated like a concentration camp".