Matthew Lillard says he is “embarrassed” about returning for ‘Scream 7’ after Melissa Barrera’s firing

Los Angeles [US], September 17 (ANI): Actor Matthew Lillard has said he feels “embarrassed” about returning to the ‘Scream’ franchise for ‘Scream 7’ following Melissa Barrera’s firing from the slasher series, saying the actor was “on the right side of history” when she expressed support for Palestinians in 2023, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

During a recent Q&A, in a video posted on TikTok, Lillard said Barrera, who was dropped from the seventh installment in November 2023, was fired for speaking out and said he felt he should have spoken up at the time.

“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?,” as per the outlet. 

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,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

“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 was subsequently “called out” for reprising his role as Stu Macher in ‘Scream 7’, which was released in February. He had previously played the character in the original 1996 ‘Scream’ and 1997’s ‘Scream 2’.

“I’m like, ‘..that’s brutal.’ I feel bad about that, I feel shame about that,” Lillard 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 ‘Scream 7’ in November 2023 after she spoke out in support of Palestine on social media amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Spyglass Media Group, the company behind the ‘Scream’ franchise, said in a statement following her firing, “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 Barrera’s departure, Jenna Ortega also exited ‘Scream 7’, while director Christopher Landon left the project. Neve Campbell was later brought back to reprise her role as Sidney Campbell in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI) 

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