Matthew Lillard feels “ashamed” for starring in this year’s “Scream 7” after Melissa Barrera was fired from the franchise due to social media posts criticizing Israel amid the war in Gaza. Lillard starred in Wes Craven’s original “Scream” in 1996 as Stu Macher. He reprised the role in “Scream 7,” which opened in theaters in February and became the highest-grossing entry in the series with $214 million.
Attending a recent 30th anniversary screening of the original “Scream,” Lillard was asked by a fan about the difficulty of speaking out on politics as an actor. Lillard made headlines last year for saying “fuck ICE” at a “Scream” screening. If I’m not standing up for queer kids or kids in the trans community, then what the fuck am I doing?
If I’m not standing up against ICE, then what the fuck am I doing?” Lillard noted that “I don’t think it’s easy all the time” to speak out, noting what happened to Barrera as an example. When they start coming after your job, sometimes things are worth it… When that happened to Melissa, the whole world didn’t pipe up. But she was a year early on what the fuck’s going on.
But the whole world should have popped up and said, ‘She’s right.’ And they didn’t. And that’s brutal.” “I went back to do ‘Scream,’ and I got called out. That’s brutal,’” he continued.
I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and that journey. I’m embarrassed; that’s the truth… I blew that.
I’m on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie [but] it may not have been the best idea.” After war broke out in Gaza in 2023, Barrera took to Instagram to share her views on the conflict. She was critical of Israel and accused the nation of “genocide and ethnic cleansing.” The post led to her firing, which in turn sparked backlash from her supporters against the release of “Scream 7”.
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