According to Oxfam, at least 250 Palestinians are dying per day from Israeli attacks — a death rate that's higher than any major armed conflict in the 21st century.
Over the last several months, there's been a massive global outpouring of support for Palestinians, with protests taking place around the world (including within Israel itself).
Celebrities and public figures who have voiced their support have also suffered consequences for doing so — including Melissa Barrera, who was very publicly fired from Scream 7 last year.
Following several social media posts where she referred to what was happening in Gaza as "genocide," "ethnic cleansing," and "like a concentration camp," Melissa was let go from the film along with the following statement from Spyglass, the company behind Scream 7's production:
“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."
Obviously, Spyglass' statement was a pretty transparent attempt to warn other actors — as well as others in the entertainment industry at large — not to speak out in support of Palestinians. And it backfired terribly.
Since Melissa's firing, Scream 7 has basically collapsed. Jenna Ortega (arguably the series' biggest star) has departed due to "scheduling issues," and the film's director Christopher Landon has pulled out too. At this point, it'll be surprising if the film gets made at all.
So, Melissa walked the red carpet at Sundance for the premiere of her upcoming film, Your Monster, and the Associated Press managed to get a quote from her talking about her Scream 7 firing for the first time.
“Honestly, I think I finally am becoming who I’m supposed to be in life, and the last few months have been a big awakening of that,” she said.
"I’m just so grateful for everything that’s happened.”
