Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega gave Scream fans a new duo to root for. After playing the Carpenter sisters in Scream and Scream VI, the actresses separately left Scream 7 before production could begin. The Wednesday star’s departure raised eyebrows because it was shortly after Melissa was fired. Initial reports claimed that Jenna left due to scheduling conflicts, but was that the truth?
Hollywood Life unpacks the entire story about Jenna and Melissa’s departures from Scream 7 here.
How Many Scream Movies Was Jenna Ortega in?
Jenna stars in two of the Scream franchise movies: the 2022 and 2023 films.
Why Is Jenna Ortega Not in Scream 7?
Initially, it was reported that Jenna left Scream 7 due to scheduling conflicts with other productions, such as Wednesday. However, the actress revealed the truth during an April 2025 interview with The Cut.
“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling,” Jenna told the publication. “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart. … “If Scream VII wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time.”
Not only did filmmaker Christopher Landon leave the film, but directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin also stepped down after Jenna exited. .
Why Was Melissa Barrera Fired From Scream 7?
Melissa was fired by Spyglass Media because of her public statements about the Israel-Hamas conflict. One of her Instagram Stories in 2023 included a message that read, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with nowhere to go, no electricity, no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”
Spyglass subsequently released a statement to Variety after firing Melissa from Scream 7. It read, “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.”
Who Is in the Scream 7 Cast?
Only two of the “Core Four” from 2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI are in Scream 7: Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin.
The rest of the Scream 7 cast features the original final girl, Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, in addition to Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, David Arquette as Dewey Riley and Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher.
Other featured stars include Scott Foley, who played Roman in Scream 3, and Roger L. Jackson as the voice of Ghostface. Also, Isabel May, Joel McHale, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Anna Camp, Mark Consuelos, Ethan Embry and Asa Germann.
