Matthew Lillard “ashamed” he acted in ‘Scream 7’ after Melissa Barrera got fired for Palestine support
Matthew Lillard has admitted feeling “ashamed” of appearing in the most recent Scream movie, following fellow franchise star Melissa Barrera’s firing.
The veteran actor appeared as Stu Macher in the original 1996 film, only to return 30 years later as a version of the character in Scream 7, released in February this year.
When the franchise was rebooted in 2022, Barrera was cast as Sam Carpenter, the lead in the fifth and six movies. However, in November 2023, the actor was fired from the seventh movie following social media posts criticising the Israeli government’s actions against Gaza.
Lillard, who has made public political statements in the past, was asked at a recent Q&A screening in Austin, Texas, how difficult it was to speak out on world events as a public figure. “It’s human, it’s just who you are, right? I don’t what else to do,” he replied, in a video captured by a fan in attendance (below).
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“I have queer kids. If I’m not standing up for queer kids or kids in the trans community, then what the fuck am I doing? If I’m not standing up against ICE, then what the fuck am I doing?”
@cocteautriplets He took accountability and had an uncomfortable conversation #edsheeran #matthewlillard #scream #scarymovie
He then conceded that “I don’t think it’s easy all the time,” before admitting he felt some embarrassment over appearing in Scream 7. “Melissa Barrera, who’s a beautiful actor, was fired for what she said after the whole Palestinian — what started happening in Israel,” Lillard said. “It’s really fucking bullshit and really hard, and she’s on the right side of history.”
He continued: “When they start coming after your job, sometimes things are worth it… When that happened to Melissa, the whole world didn’t pipe up. But she was a year early on what the fuck’s going on. But the whole world should have popped up and said, ‘She’s right.’ And they didn’t. And that’s brutal.”
“I went back to do ‘Scream,’ and I got called out. And I’m like, ‘Oh, fuck. That’s brutal.’ I feel bad about that. I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn’t really think about Melissa and that journey. I didn’t say no. I’m embarrassed; that’s the truth… I blew that. I’m on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie [but] it may not have been the best idea.”
In February, Scream 7’s Los Angeles premiere saw protestors calling for the movie to be boycotted over Barrera’s firing. A few months later in May, the actor reflected on “10 torturous months of uncertainty” following her departure, revealing: “I got some messages of support from people in the industry, but what I found is that private messages with no action mean nothing.”
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.