‘It Was The Darkest And Hardest Year Of My Life:’ Melissa Barrera Does Not Hold Back About What Life Was Like After Her Scream Firing
A year ago, news broke that Melissa Barrera had been fired from Scream 7. She was let go for comments she made regarding Palestine and what was happening in Gaza. After that, the entire plan for the upcoming horror movie changed, and she moved to other projects. However, now she’s opened up about how hard life was after all of this.
Getting real with The Independent about how her life changed after getting fired, Barrera candidly said:
It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything.
Not long after she was fired, Jenna Ortega left the project too, meaning Scream was without the new faces of the franchise. Following that, Christopher Landon stepped down as director, saying what happened was “a dream job that turned into a nightmare.” Now, we know Scream 7 will move forward with Neve Campbell back as the star and original screenwriter Kevin Williamson directing.
Meanwhile, Melissa Barrera is working. However, the work has not been flooding in. While she did have two horror projects on the 2024 movie schedule – Abigail and Your Monster – she explained that things were “quiet” for ten months after she left Scream:
There were times where I felt like my life was over. It was quiet for, like, 10 months. I was still getting offers for small things here and there – I’m not going to lie and say there was nothing – but [the message] was, like, ‘Oh, she probably doesn’t have work, she’ll say yes to anything.’
Notably, both Abigail and Your Monster were filmed before she was fired. So, in 2024, she’s mostly been promoting her work. However, according to her IMDb, she has two films and a series in the works. So, make sure to keep an eye on the 2025 movie schedule for The One and The Collaboration and the TV guide for Copenhagen.
While this time has been challenging, and finding work wasn’t easy, the In the Heights actress still looks back on her time in Scream fondly. She explained that it helped her build a fanbase too, and they’ve followed her to her various post-Scream movies:
They gave me a lot in my career. I made really good friends. I have such loyal fans from those movies that are now watching the rest of the stuff that I do.
However, she also explained that this situation will likely never be forgotten. She said that at fan expos, the controversy tends to get brought up, which serves as a constant reminder of what happened. She explained:
Or they’re like, ‘What they did to you is so messed up, I’m so sorry that happened!’And it’s something, I think, that’s never going to end. Because the franchise is never going to end. So while I still have so much love for [those movies], the reminders of that very sour moment make it a little bit weird.
All around, what happened between Melissa Barrera and Scream was pivotal and changed her career and the franchise.
However, they’re both moving on. Scream 7 will come out on February 27, 2026, and will feature Campbell as Sidney Prescott and Patrick Dempsey as Det. Mark Kincaid. Meanwhile, Barrera has a few other projects in the works. All around, we here at CinemaBlend will keep you posted on all these projects as we learn more about them.
