Matthew Lillard has publicly condemned his own decision to return for “Scream 7,” calling himself “ashamed” and “embarrassed” for rejoining the franchise after Melissa Barrera was fired over her pro-Palestine social media posts.
The 54-year-old actor, who originated the role of Stu Macher in Wes Craven’s 1996 original, made the blunt admission during a Q&A session at a 30th-anniversary screening of the first film. He was responding to an audience question about the difficulty of taking political stances as a public figure when he abandoned standard talking points to address the franchise’s behind-the-scenes upheaval directly.
Barrera, 34, had led the 2022 reboot and 2023’s “Scream VI” as Sam Carpenter before Spyglass Media abruptly dropped her in late 2023. The studio cited “zero tolerance for antisemitism” after she posted messages supporting Palestine and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The firing triggered cascading departures from the project, including co-star Jenna Ortega and director Christopher Landon.
Spyglass subsequently restructured the sequel around legacy figures, bringing back original screenwriter Kevin Williamson to direct and recruiting returning cast members including Neve Campbell alongside Lillard.
Lillard did not temper his words when describing Barrera’s dismissal. “Melissa Barrera, who’s a beautiful actor, was fired for what she said after the whole Palestinian [conflict], what started happening in Israel,” he told the audience. “It’s really f—ing bullsh-t and really hard, and she’s on the right side of history.”
He continued, pressing further on the industry’s collective silence. “When that happened to Melissa, the whole world didn’t pipe up. But she was a year early on what the f—‘s going on. But the whole world should have popped up and said, ‘She’s right.’ And they didn’t. And that’s brutal.”
The actor then turned the criticism inward, acknowledging that his enthusiasm to revisit his career-defining role had overridden his judgment. “I went back to do Scream, and I got called out. And I’m like, ‘Oh, f—. That’s brutal,'” he admitted. “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.”
He offered no deflection in summarizing his position. “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.”
Barrera had addressed the industry’s response earlier this year, noting that while multiple former colleagues contacted her privately with support, virtually none made public statements on her behalf. Lillard’s remarks represent the first instance of a returning legacy cast member expressing regret over participation in the retooled sequel.
The original “Scream 7” project collapsed following Barrera’s firing and the subsequent exits of Ortega and Landon, forcing Spyglass to rebuild the installment around the 1996 film’s surviving characters rather than the newer generation it had established across two successful reboot entries.