Matthew Lillard says he's "ashamed" and "embarrassed" that he rejoined the Scream franchise for Scream 7 after his former castmate Melissa Barrera was fired in 2023 over comments she made criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza. The actor, who plays original Ghostface Stu Macher, made the admission during a Q&A in Austin, Texas, marking the 30th anniversary of the first Scream film.
A Fan's Question Turns Into a Confession
The moment came when a fan asked Lillard how hard it is for public figures to speak up on divisive issues like the war in Gaza, ICE raids, and LGBTQ+ rights. "I don't know how else to do it," Lillard said, according to footage circulated on TikTok and reported by Entertainment Weekly. "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*** am I doing? If I'm not standing up against ICE, then what the f*** am I doing?" He added that speaking out "isn't easy all the time," before turning the conversation to Barrera.
The Firing That Started It
Barrera, who starred in the 2022 Scream reboot and Scream VI, was cut from Scream 7 in late 2023 after she shared posts supporting a ceasefire, calling Israel's military campaign in Gaza "genocide and ethnic cleansing," and resharing material accusing Israel of distorting Holocaust history. Spyglass said at the time it had "zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion." Talent agency WME also dropped her. Christopher Landon, the openly gay director attached to the project, quit within weeks, later describing the fallout as a dream job turned nightmare. Barrera has said job offers largely disappeared for nearly a year; she has since returned to the stage in Broadway's Titaníque.
"Melissa Barrera, who's a beautiful actor, was fired for what she said... It's really f***ing bullshit and really hard, and she's on the right side of history."
Matthew Lillard
Lillard didn't spare himself. "I went back to do Scream, and I got called out. And I'm like, 'Oh, f***. That's brutal,'" he said. "I feel bad about that. I feel ashamed about that... I'm embarrassed, that's the truth. I blew that. I'm on the wrong side of history for that." He said he still likes the film but conceded, "it may not have been the best idea."
A Franchise Already Under Scrutiny
Lillard's comments land in a movie already trailed by controversy. Barrera's supporters protested outside Scream 7's Los Angeles premiere in February, calling for a boycott. In March, co-star Anna Camp apologized after resharing a post that mocked the boycott, set to Taylor Swift's "Karma," saying the repost "does not reflect my personal beliefs."
Why It Matters
Lillard has been a fixture of queer pop culture for two decades, from Out's early crush lists to a judging seat on The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, and his framing here is deliberate: he's linking his failure to defend Barrera to his obligations as the parent of queer kids. That's the part worth sitting with. Solidarity tends to get compartmentalized, LGBTQ+ rights over here, Palestine over there, immigration somewhere else, as if marginalized communities aren't all navigating the same fight against being silenced or punished for who they are and what they believe. Barrera wasn't the only industry casualty of that dynamic; a CAA assistant was dropped over similar posts around the same time. Lillard's regret won't undo Barrera's lost year of work, but a straight, famous actor publicly naming his own complicity, and connecting it to queer solidarity rather than treating it as someone else's issue, is the kind of accountability that's rare in Hollywood.
Cover photo: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
