Melissa Barrera launches production company to support Palestinian artists

• Barrera praised musicians who withdrew from Ed Sheeran's tour in solidarity after Macklemore was dropped for a "Free Palestine" statement onstage.
• She contrasted that solidarity with the relative silence from her own "Scream" castmates after her firing, though co-star Matthew Lillard recently said he felt "ashamed" over the film.

Melissa Barrera, the actress dropped from the "Scream" franchise in 2023 over social media posts critical of ‘Israel’, has launched a production company dedicated to supporting pro-Palestinian creatives, framing the move as a response to the industry backlash she faced three years ago.

"I have to carve my own path," Barrera said, signaling a shift toward building opportunities outside the traditional studio system that sidelined her.

Barrera was fired by "Scream" producer Spyglass in 2023 after she posted about the war in Gaza. At the time, the studio said it had "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." Barrera had starred in both 2022's "Scream" and "Scream VI."

Her new venture comes as she has been reflecting publicly on how the entertainment industry's response to political speech has evolved. 

Speaking to the Associated Press, Barrera praised the musicians who withdrew from Ed Sheeran's U.S. Loop Tour after Macklemore was dropped for making a "Free Palestine" statement onstage.

"It was so beautiful to see Finneas and the band and all the opening acts pulling out in support of Macklemore," Barrera said. "It made me emotional. You know, I didn't get that when it happened to me. I didn't have any of that happen. It was too soon. People were too scared. But it's good to see that almost three years later, at least things have changed."

The Macklemore controversy 

Macklemore was removed from Sheeran's tour after delivering a political speech during a Sep. 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, telling the crowd he wanted people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know they had not been forgotten. He was dropped from the tour on Sept. 14.

Barrera noted that the solidarity shown toward Macklemore stood in contrast to the relative silence from her own "Scream" castmates after her firing. While Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon both exited "Scream 7," which was released earlier this year, co-star Matthew Lillard only recently said he felt "ashamed" for appearing in the film.

Reflecting on how public pressure can shift outcomes, Barrera argued that collective pushback erodes the effectiveness of censorship over time. "When someone is attacked, and there are people behind being like, 'We're not gonna allow this,' and the more that happens, the less that the people in power are going to try to censor it because eventually it's not gonna work," she said. "I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Ed Sheeran had been like, 'No,' and called the bluff. I mean, it's possible that he still would have had his shows canceled, but I bet you that he could have rebooked those shows in other venues just as easily, and people would have rallied behind him."

She closed with a broader appeal to those with influence in the industry. "I wish that the people that have power understood the power that they have," Barrera said. "I think that the problem is that there's a lot of people that actually have a lot of power. They think they don't, and they're operating out of fear, and it's just a shame because, you know, we just saw what happened, the support that rallied behind Macklemore, and I think that's a big step. I think that what we're seeing, what we're witnessing, is going to inspire real change, and I'm very hopeful about that."

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