Former Scream 7 director Christopher Landon clears the air on the controversial Melissa Barrera firing and reveals that despite rumours floating online, he had nothing to do with the actress being fired from the horror franchise.

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Melissa Barrera's exit 

Melissa Barrera was fired due to her public support for Palestine. Her departure led to co-lead Jenna Ortega also exiting the project, resulting in Neve Campbell stepping in as the new lead and the studio reworking the entire plot of the movie, with former Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson taking over the project from Landon.

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Landon clarifies his role

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Landon, who is promoting his upcoming movie Drop, clarified that he was not involved in the decision to fire her despite many online rumours blaming him.

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“I did not fire her. A lot of people think I had something to do with it, and it was not my doing. I had no control of the situation at all. I think in the absence of people understanding how Hollywood works and what the hierarchy is, the fans were like, ‘That’s the guy.’ And so they came for me, knives out.”

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The director also talked about being targeted online after Barrera's firing and receiving death threats.

“People were threatening to kill me and my family, to the point where the FBI was getting involved. I got messages saying, ‘I’m going to find your kids, and I’m going to kill them because you support child murder... The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary.”

Meanwhile, Scream 7 is still in production and recently brought back actor Matthew Lillard, who played a major role in the first instalment of the franchise in 1996.

Scream 7 will be hitting theaters on February 27, 2026.

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