After months of speculation, Jenna Ortega has finally addressed why she left Scream 7 — and it’s not for the reason fans were originally told. In a new interview with The Cut, Ortega revealed that her decision to exit the slasher franchise had nothing to do with a supposed scheduling conflict with Wednesday Season 2, as was widely reported at the time. Instead, her exit was down to personal reasons and it was because of the departure of other people involved, particularly Melissa Barrera.

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

The “Melissa stuff” refers to the controversial firing of Barrera, Ortega’s co-star and on-screen sister in Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). Barrera was let go by Spyglass Media in late 2023 after posting comments on social media in support of Palestine and criticizing Israel, which the studio labeled as “crossing the line into hate speech.”

What Happened on ‘Scream 7’?

The day after Barrera’s firing, news broke that Ortega had also exited the film. At the time, her departure was chalked up to her busy schedule, but many fans speculated there was more to it. Now we know they were right. Ortega’s statement confirms that her decision was a quiet act of solidarity, and a reaction to what she saw as the franchise losing its heart.

Following the pair’s departure, Scream 7 saw even more upheaval when director Christopher Landon exited the project. He had initially posted a social media note that he quickly deleted, that read: “Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.” A month later, he confirmed his departure, calling the experience “a dream job that turned into a nightmare.”

The franchise is taking a step in another direction with the series co-creator Kevin Williamson stepping in as director, and the return of franchise icon Neve Campbell announced shortly after. Ortega, meanwhile, moved on. She returns as Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s Wednesday Season 2 and last year starred in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which was a box office smash. She’s also part of A24’s Death of a Unicorn, which just opened.

via Collider