The Los Angeles premiere of “Scream 7” drew dozens of protesters outdoors Paramount Studios on Wednesday, many denouncing the firing of former star Melissa Barrera.
Organized by Leisure Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, the demonstration noticed protesters carrying indicators with pro-Palestinian messages and chanting, “From the river to the ocean Palestine might be free.”
Per the organizers, Wednesday’s protest was meant to name “consideration to the business’s widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.” The choice to boycott the occasion additionally adopted the 2023 termination of Mexican actress Melissa Barrera from “Scream 7,” who condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza by sharing an article that accused the nation of “genocide and ethnic cleaning.”
On the time, Spyglass Media Group, the manufacturing firm for the “Scream” franchise, stated it had “zero tolerance for antisemitism” and fired her from the newest installment. The undertaking later noticed director Christopher Landon and co-star Jenna Ortega exit the undertaking, with Neve Campbell returning to the franchise after a previous pay dispute.
“Barrera’s firing is a weaponization of labor,” Amin El Gamal, Chair of SAG-AFTRA’s Nationwide MENA Committee, stated in an announcement. “This repression is a direct extension of Hollywood’s long-standing anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism. Followers and leisure employees alike are searching for significant accountability—not just for office discrimination like this, but additionally for our business’s complicity within the apartheid and ongoing genocide.”
Along with demonstrating outdoors the premiere, the Leisure Labor for Palestine shared quite a few requires followers to boycott seeing “Scream 7” in theaters on social media.
Final week, the group shared on Instagram, “‘Scream 7’ is about to hit cinemas, and Palestinian society is asking on you to boycott it. Again in November 2023, ‘Scream 7’ star Melissa Barrera was fired by the movie’s manufacturing firm after daring to talk out towards Israel’s genocide in Gaza in a collection of social media posts. Spyglass justified its resolution by accusing Barrera of constructing ‘false references to genocide.’”
Organizer shared that the “Scream 7” boycott was initially launched by a grassroots group of “Scream” followers, noting it was now supported by over 30 arts and advocacy organizations, together with Palestinian Marketing campaign for the Tutorial and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), Movie Staff for Palestine, Eire-Palestine Solidarity Marketing campaign, Artists Towards Apartheid, Visualizing Palestine, Toronto Palestine Movie Competition, Democratic Socialists of America, U.S. Marketing campaign for Palestinian Rights, BDS Egypt, BDS Italy, BDS France, BDS Mexico, Bluestockings Cooperative, Mawjoudin Initiative for Equality, Austin Tan Cerca De La Frontera, Texas Equal Entry Fund, Oceanside For Palestine, 2 Cents Critic Podcast, ACT UP Pittsburgh, Michigan Coalition Towards Genocide, Labor for Palestine, Theater Staff for a Ceasefire, Cultural Community for Palestine and Palestinian Feminist Collective, amongst others.
“We consider that Melissa Barrera is part of the ‘Scream’ neighborhood and that it’s our accountability to talk out when a member of our neighborhood has been harmed,” Nino Testa, the “Boycott Scream 7” organizer and longtime fan, stated in an announcement. “We refuse to let the franchise we love be used as propaganda for a genocide. We reject Hollywood’s racist blacklisting and censorship of any one that advocates for a free Palestine.”
