Jenna Ortega On Why She Dropped Out Of ‘Scream 7’ After Melissa Barrera’s Exit: “It Was All Kind Of Falling Apart”

Jenna Ortega is revealing the real reason she left Scream 7 amid the fallout from Melissa Barrera’s firing from the franchise.

In a new interview, the Wednesday star opened up about what led to her exit from the film after her co-star Barrera was cut from the movie following her comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

“It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling,” Ortega said in an interview with The Cut. “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart.”

When Ortega stepped down from reprising her role in the Scream franchise, directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin had also exited the project.

“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,” she added.

Barrera was slashed from reprising her role of Sam Carpenter in a third film after she took to social media to call for a ceasefire. The production company behind the film, Spyglass Media Group, said in a statement that they had “zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form” and dropped her.

Scream 7 is now moving forward. OG star Neve Campbell is reprising her role of Sidney Prescott, and Kevin Williamson is directing the slasher.

Scream 7 is set to open on February 27, 2026, and Kevin Williamson and Neve Campbell will return to the franchise they started in 1996. Williamson created the franchise and will direct the seventh installment, with Guy Busick set to write the script.

Courteney Cox is also set to reprise her role of Gale Weathers from the original slasher film. Mason Gooding will reprise his role of Chad Meeks-Martin. Newcomer Isabel May will play Sidney’s daughter, with Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, and Anna Camp also on board in new, undisclosed roles.