American actor Matthew Lillard said that he felt "ashamed" for appearing in Scream 7 during a Q&A in Austin, Texas, after actress Melissa Barrera was fired from it for sharing pro-Palestinian posts online.
"She’s on the right side of history," Lillard said. "The whole world should have popped up and said, ‘She’s right.’ And they didn’t. And that’s brutal."
He described himself as being "on the wrong side of history" for appearing in the movie, saying, "I still like being in the movie, but it may not have been the best idea."
He also referred to the ongoing controversy surrounding musician Ed Sheeran, who is facing heavy backlash after his opening act, rapper Macklemore, was dropped following pro-Palestinian remarks during a show.
Barrera dropped from horror franchise due to anti-Israel posts
Barrera was dropped from the Scream franchise in 2023 after making several Instagram posts condemning Israel for its treatment toward Palestinians in Gaza.
"Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote in one post, describing the situation as being both genocide and ethnic cleansing.
After her removal from the film, a spokesperson for production company Spyglass told Variety that “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.”