Pro-Palestinian protesters call for boycott at 'Scream 7' premiere years after Melissa Barrera's firing

Los Angeles — Protesters gathered extracurricular the premiere of “Scream 7” successful Los Angeles connected Wednesday night, calling for a boycott of the movie much than 2 years aft franchise prima Melissa Barrera was fired implicit her comments astir the Israel-Hamas war.

Demonstrators were spotted waving Palestinian flags, playing drums and chanting, “David Ellison, you can’t fell / You’re supporting genocide” extracurricular of the reddish carpet connected the Paramount Studios lot. Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CodePink LA and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles led the protest.

“The objection called attraction to the industry’s wide silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide successful Gaza,” CodePink LA wrote successful its quality release. “Protesters gathered extracurricular the lawsuit to rise consciousness astir the Boycott ‘Scream 7’ run and impulse audiences to refrain from supporting the film.”

“Scream 7” manager Kevin Williamson told Variety connected the reddish carpet that his “heart goes retired to” the demonstrators.

“We unrecorded successful a satellite wherever a batch of atrocious things are happening retired there, and I deliberation a batch of radical privation to beryllium heard and they privation to person their dependable heard astir the atrocious worldly that’s happening,” Williamson said. “I don’t cognize if canceling Paramount+ is the mode to bash it. But I deliberation radical should perceive to their interior aforesaid and bash what feels bully for them.”

After the protest, Barrera posted, “I spot you,” with a reddish bosom connected her Instagram story.

After Barrera referred to Israel’s wartime behaviour successful Gaza arsenic “genocide and taste cleansing” connected societal media, “Scream” accumulation institution Spyglass Media Group fired her from “Scream 7.”

“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We person zero tolerance for antisemitism oregon the incitement of hatred successful immoderate form, including mendacious references to genocide, taste cleansing, Holocaust distortion oregon thing that flagrantly crosses the enactment into hatred speech,” a Spyglass Media typical told Variety successful 2023.

Barrera’s co-star Jenna Ortega near the fearfulness franchise the time aft Spyglass’ announcement. She aboriginal told the Cut that her determination “had thing to bash with wage oregon scheduling,” arsenic initially reported. Original manager Christopher Landon exited the movie soon after.

“The Melissa worldly was happening, and it was each benignant of falling apart,” Ortega told the Cut. “If ‘Scream VII’ wasn’t going to beryllium with that squad of directors and those radical I fell successful emotion with, past it didn’t look similar the close determination for maine successful my vocation astatine the time.”

The movie moved guardant with Neve Campbell returning to prima and Williamson — the franchise creator — directing “Scream 7.”

Paramount did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

In September, Ortega and Barrera joined much than 5,000 movie figures pledging to boycott the Israeli movie manufacture successful an unfastened missive by Film Workers for Palestine. The signatories promised to not “screen films, look astatine oregon different enactment with Israeli movie institutions ... that are implicated successful genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”

In response, astir 1,200 different Hollywood figures signed different missive rejecting the boycott — a reflection of the disagreement successful Hollywood implicit the warfare successful Gaza.