In the wake of Scream franchise star Melissa Barrera being let go from her role in Scream VII due to perceived inflammatory comments on social media about the Israel and Hamas conflict, co-star Jenna Ortega has left the film.
The news, reported by Deadline, follows yesterday’s announcement that Barrera was no longer a part of the cast. However, the trade notes that Ortega leaving the film was previously discussed before the strikes, and that “a script for Scream VII is not ready yet, and the Primetime Emmy nominee has to head to Ireland in April to shoot the second season of Netflix’s Wednesday which will go into the summer.” The timing of this news is very interesting, to say the least.
In the recent reboot of the franchise, which started with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Scream in 2022 and continued with this year’s Scream VI from the same directing team, Ortega and Barrera played sisters plagued by a new generation of Ghostface killers. Due to the success of those films, Scream VII was announced in August, with Christopher Landon (Freaky) at the helm.
Keep up with io9 for more news on Scream VII.
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