Matthew Lillard Says He's “Ashamed" and “Embarrassed” He Returned for ‘Scream 7' After Melissa Barrera's Firing

At a “Scream” 30th anniversary screening, Matthew Lillard was asked by a fan how hard it is to take political stands as a public figure. Instead of giving a watered down non-answer, Quentin Tarantino’s favorite actor went straight at the elephant in the room: Melissa Barrera, and his own decision to come back for “Scream 7” after she was fired.

First off, Lillard, speaking in a fan-recorded video, framed his answer around his own family (via EW):

For me, I have queer kids. If I'm not standing up for queer kids or kids in the trans community then what the f--k am I doing? If I'm not standing up against ICE, then what the f--k am I doing?

He admitted it isn't always easy. Then he turned to Barrera, calling her firing "really f-cking bullsh-t" and saying she's "on the right side of history." He also took aim at the industry's collective shrug:

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.

Oh, and Lillard didn't exempt himself. He says he was part of that silence and now regrets doing “Scream 7,” not because it turned out to be terrible, but because of how Barrera was treated.

I went back to do Scream, and I got called out. And I'm like, 'Oh, f---. 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.

He went further, calling himself “embarrassed” and saying, "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 led the 2022 reboot and “Scream VI” as Sam Carpenter, Billy Loomis' secret daughter, and was set to headline the seventh film. Then, in late 2023, Spyglass Entertainment fired her over social media posts criticizing Israel's military campaign in Gaza. The company labeled the posts “hate speech” and cited zero tolerance for antisemitism. Barrera condemned antisemitism in response but made clear she wouldn't stay quiet on issues she cares about.

Barrera, for her part, has said the job offers dried up after she was dropped, and she's openly doubted the studio's reported box office numbers for “Scream 7.”

Hollywood blacklists are a very real thing, and Barrera‘s been skating on very thin ice since, with no big projects to speak of. She did shoot “Black Tides,” alongside the king of B-movies, John Travolta, and helmed by the master of disaster himself, Renny Harlin, which has been in the can for over a year and still waiting release. That’s about it.