Jenna Ortega quits Scream 7 as castmate is axed after Israel-Palestine posts

22 November 2023 , 22:46

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Jenna left due to scheduling conflicts

Jenna Ortega has left the Scream 7 film due to scheduling conflicts.

The rising star dropped out of the horror franchise due to her Wednesday Season 2 shooting schedule with Netflix, which was said to be in the works months ago before the SAG-AFTRA strike began. Production dates for the upcoming season of Wednesday are yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, Jenna also needs to wrap filming on Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice 2, which has a few more days to shoot after it was interrupted by the SAG-AFTRA strike. The news of her exit from Scream 7 comes as her co-star and Mexican actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the movie franchise, with her axing following on from posts she made relating to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and Gaza conflict.

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Jenna has left the franchise (Paramount Pictures)

Variety has confirmed that Jenna's exit from Scream was not connected to Melissa's dismissal. According to a new report, Spyglass Media Group has "dropped" Melissa from the cast of Scream VII, with them said to be "pushing back on a narrative that has quickly coalesced around the decision that Barrera was fired for showing support for the Palestinian cause".

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Melissa, 33, was cast as Sam Carpenter in August 2020 for the fifth Scream film, with the flick hitting screens in January 2022. She is also famous for having starred in the likes of In The Heights and Carmen. She was supposed to be at the helm of the leading role for the next Scream flick.

Variety has today reported that a spokesperson has said that the star's social media posts were interpreted as anti-Semitic. Speaking to the outlet, the spokesperson for the company said: "Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form."

Melissa was axed from the franchise (mpi099/MediaPunch/IPx)

The statement then went on to add that this includes "false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech". This comes after the actress posted about the Israel-Hamas conflict on social media. One post, that the actress re-shared from another account, accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleansing”.

According to the outlet, the actress "is no longer working with a publicist" following her axe from the movie franchise.

Lauren Gordon