Jenna Ortega is said to no longer be reprising her role in Scream VII. This development follows the recent termination of her co-star Melissa Barrera from the horror franchise due to comments related to the Israel-Palestine conflict on social media.
As reported by Deadline, the 21-year-old Ortega decided to withdraw from the sequel due to scheduling conflicts with the second season of her popular Netflix series, “Wednesday,” where she portrays Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family.
The Independent reached out to representatives for Ortega and Spyglass, the studio behind the film, for comments on the matter.
Earlier on Tuesday (21 November), a spokesperson confirmed to Variety that Barrera had been dismissed following the interpretation of her social media posts as antisemitic. A Spyglass spokesperson stated, “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.”
Jenna Ortega (Credits: Rolling Stone)
In response to the news, Scream VII director Christopher Landon expressed his sentiments on Twitter/X, stating, “This is my statement: Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.”
Additionally, Susan Sarandon, an Oscar-winning actor, faced consequences for her comments at a pro-Palestine rally in New York City on 17 November. Following her remarks, she was dropped by her talent agency UTA.
Wednesday, developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, saw significant success, surpassing a viewership record held by Stranger Things with a total of 341.2 million hours streamed within just one week of release. Despite Ortega’s strong lead performance, The Independent noted in an article about the show’s success that it “can’t escape certain trappings, namely the fact that it’s essentially Gen-Z Addams Family by way of Riverdale.”
The second season of Wednesday is anticipated to be released in late 2024.
