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Matthew Lillard has confessed that he’s “embarrassed” about returning for Scream 7 following Melissa Barrera’s firing from the slasher franchise.
During a recent Q&A, via a video posted on TikTok, the actor said Barrera was “on the right side of history” when she expressed support for Palestinians in 2023 amid the Israel-Hamas war.
“It’s just human, it’s like who we are … I don’t know what else to do,” Lillard said. “For me … I have queer kids; if I’m not standing up for queer kids or kids in the trans community, what the fuck am I doing?”
The Five Nights at Freddy’s star continued, “Listen, I don’t think it’s easy all the time. Melissa Barrera, who’s a beautiful actor, was fired for what she said. … That’s really fucking bullshit and really hard, and she’s on the right side of history. And when they start coming after your job, sometimes things are worth it.”
“But I’m just gonna say, what happened to Melissa, the whole world didn’t pipe up,” he added. “She was like a year early on what the fuck’s going on, but the whole world should have piped up and said, ‘She’s right,’ and they didn’t. And that’s brutal.”
Lillard said he then “got called out” for reprising his role as Stu Macher in Scream 7, which was released in February. He previously starred in the original 1996 Scream and 1997’s Scream 2.
“I’m like, ‘Oh fuck, that’s brutal.’ I feel bad about that, I feel shame about that,” he said. “Because in that moment, I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and the journey, and I didn’t say ‘no.’ And I’m embarrassed, and that’s the truth.”
Barrera was dropped from the seventh installment in the slasher franchise in November 2023 after she spoke out in support of Palestine on her social media after Hamas invaded Israel the month prior.
Spyglass Media Group, the company behind the Scream franchise, said in a statement at the time, “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”
Following the news, Jenna Ortega dropped out of Scream 7, as did director Christopher Landon. Neve Campbell was later brought back to reprise her role as Sidney Prescott in the new film.