Matthew Lillard Says He's 'Ashamed' He Stayed Quiet on Melissa Barrera's Firing

Matthew Lillard says he regrets returning to the “Scream” franchise for its seventh installment, telling a crowd at a 30th-anniversary screening this week that he never should have signed on after Melissa Barrera lost her role in the film. Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in the first two “Scream” reboots, was dropped by producer Spyglass Media Group in November 2023 after she posted criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, including accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, on social media. Spyglass said at the time it would not tolerate antisemitism or incitement to hatred in any form.

Lillard, who played Stu Macher in the original 1996 film and reprised the role for “Scream 7,” told the audience he got swept up in excitement about rejoining the cast and failed to consider what Barrera had been through. He called himself “on the wrong side of history” for not turning the part down and said he felt ashamed that he stayed quiet while she lost her job.

Lillard has been outspoken on other political issues before, including a widely shared remark criticizing U.S. immigration enforcement at an earlier “Scream” event, and he pointed to his queer children as one reason he feels compelled to speak up on causes that affect them.

Barrera’s exit reshaped the production well beyond her own absence. Director Christopher Landon left the project soon after, later saying he faced death threats tied to the backlash, and co-star Jenna Ortega also departed. The script was rewritten to center Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott and her daughter facing a new Ghostface killer, with Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Lillard leading the returning cast.

Protesters gathered outside the Los Angeles premiere in February, calling for a boycott over Barrera’s firing, but the film still opened strong and became the franchise’s highest-grossing entry at $214 million, prompting the studio to greenlight “Scream 8.” Barrera has not publicly responded to Lillard’s comments, and Spyglass has not issued a new statement since Landon’s remarks about the threats he received.