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Jenna Ortega didn’t leave Scream VII over her busy “shooting schedule.” In a new interview with The Cut, Ortega revealed that she exited the movie because things went awry after her co-star Melissa Barera was fired from the film for publicly supporting Palestine.
“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling,” Ortega told the outlet. “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart.”
She continued, “IfScream VII wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”
News of Ortega’s departure from the film in November 2023 came just one day after Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind theScreamfilms, fired Barrera for her social media posts, which they deemed antisemitic.
At the time, Varietyreported that Ortega’s departure was “apparently not influenced” by Barrera’s firing. Still, speculation grew that her exit was due to the production company’s treatment of her co-star, since Ortega, too, has been vocal about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
At the time, Scream VII director Christopher Landon deleted a statement on X that read, “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.” He later stepped away from the movie, saying the film had become a “dream job that turned into a nightmare.” Kevin Williamson, the film’s original screenwriter, took over directing duties and ended up welcoming Neve Campbell back to the franchise.
“I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!!” Campbell wrote on Instagram at the time. “Well, actually I could.”
