The directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett brought Melissa Barrera to new levels of fame when they tapped her to lead the 2022 franchise reviver Scream.

But then, Spyglass, the production company behind Scream, fired her from the franchise over social media posts she had shared to Instagram Stories after Hamas’ Oct 7 attack, The Hollywood Reporter states.

“My problem was with the press that came out that just felt mean-spirited toward the film. That was my first big studio movie, and everybody was telling us, ‘Your life is going to change.’ Then it doesn’t happen, so it was very heartbreaking and soul-crushing,” says Barrera, who declined to specifically address the colourism debate.

“But I’m grateful for how it happened. It taught me a lot about the industry, about myself, about expectations, about not letting the noise outside put a stain on my experience.”

One, posted just two weeks after the Hamas attack, read, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with nowhere to go, no electricity no water … This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.”

In another post, Barrera had written that she was having trouble finding information supporting the Palestinian side and added, “Western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.” Spyglass had characterised her posts as anti-Semitic in a Nov 21 statement announcing her firing.