Melissa Barrera was expected to reprise her role of Sam Carpenter for Scream 7, but the actress was fired by Spyglass media last year after the studio alleged that she made anti-Semitic comments on social media following the attack in Israel and the invasion of Gaza. Well, the actress has sparked more controversy in the last week, leading her representatives at WME and Sugar23 to wonder whether they should drop her as a client.
Melissa Barrera posted a link in her Instagram bio that prompted followers to donate money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The group has been providing aid to Palestinian refugees for decades, but allegations recently emerged that some employees are members of Hamas and that 12 of them actually took part in the October 7th attacks. This has led multiple countries to put a pause on funding for the group, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and more.
According to Variety, the social media posts quickly spread within WME, with the agency reportedly consulting “outside advisors on the best approach to fire [Melissa Barrera] given that such a break could spark backlash.” Sources say that it got close, but both WME and Sugar23 have elected to keep her for now, even though some other clients and employees have complained.
Melissa Barrera does have one major studio project coming up with Abigail, the horror movie directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. It remains to be seen if Universal will include her in the marketing campaign and interview junkets moving forward, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight,” reads the official synopsis. “In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.” Abigail is slated to hit theaters on April 19th.
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