FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 26, 2026
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA, and Jewish Voice for Peace-LA Protest Scream 7 Premiere
LOS ANGELES — Dozens of protesters marched outside the Scream 7 premiere at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on February 26. Led by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA, and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, the demonstration called attention to the industry’s widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
After Mexican actress Melissa Barrera expressed support for Palestinians following Israel’s initial bombardment of Gaza in October 2023, Spyglass Media Group fired her from the Scream franchise. On her social media, Barrera shared an article titled “A Textbook Case of Genocide,” by Israeli scholar of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Raz Segal, published in Jewish Currents. In their statement announcing Barrera’s firing, Spyglass accused her of “antisemitism…the incitement of hate…false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion…[and] hate speech.” The smears resulted in Barrera not receiving job offers for nearly 10 months. Since then, fans have been making calls to boycott the franchise.
Barrera’s termination came amid a barrage of threats and blacklisting as part of a broader effort to silence voices advocating for Palestinian rights, most harshly deployed against women of color.
“Barrera’s firing is a weaponization of labor,” said Amin El Gamal, Chair of SAG-AFTRA’s National MENA Committee. “This repression is a direct extension of Hollywood's long-standing anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism. Fans and entertainment workers alike are seeking meaningful accountability—not only for workplace discrimination like this, but also for our industry’s complicity in the apartheid and ongoing genocide.”
Scream cast and crew members were expected to be in attendance at the premiere. Protesters gathered outside the event to raise awareness about the Boycott Scream 7 campaign and urge audiences to refrain from supporting the film, slated for release on February 27, 2026.
The Scream 7 boycott was initiated by a grassroots group of Scream fans. It is now supported by over 30 arts and advocacy organizations (see below for full list) and the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a global campaign launched in 2005 that uses nonviolent economic and political pressure to challenge Israel’s apartheid and to push Israel to comply with international law and universal principles of human rights. Modeled on the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, BDS includes high-profile cultural boycotts of institutions, products, and events with deep and persistent complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights as stipulated in international law. BDS announced its support of the grassroots campaign in January 2025.
“We believe that Melissa Barrera is a part of the Scream community and that it’s our responsibility to speak out when a member of our community has been harmed,” said Boycott Scream 7 organizer and longtime fan, Nino Testa. “We refuse to let the franchise we love be used as propaganda for a genocide. We reject Hollywood’s racist blacklisting and censorship of any person who advocates for a free Palestine.”
In Hollywood, the BDS campaign against Disney’s Snow White (2025), whose lead actor, Gal Gadot, actively promotes and supports Israel’s military, led to the film being one of Disney’s worst-performing live-action films in the last decade and resulted in $170 million loss for Disney. Captain America: Brave New World was also a BDS target over the inclusion of a racist, anti-Arab character, Sabra. The film suffered a 68% drop in its second weekend, following protests that disrupted the planned live stream of its premiere and dominated opening weekend headlines.
For more information, please contact Miriam Arghandiwal at [email protected].
Arts and Advocacy Organizations Supporting Boycott Scream 7
- Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
- Entertainment Labor for Palestine
- Code Pink
- Jewish Voice For Peace - Los Angeles
- Film Workers for Palestine
- Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
- Artists Against Apartheid
- Visualizing Palestine
- Toronto Palestine Film Festival
- Democratic Socialists of America
- U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights
- BDS Egypt
- BDS Italy
- BDS France
- BDS Mexico
- Bluestockings Cooperative
- Mawjoudin Initiative for Equality
- Austin Tan Cerca De La Frontera
- Physical Plastic theater project
- Texas Equal Access Fund
- Oceanside For Palestine
- 2 Cents Critic Podcast
- ACT UP Pittsburgh
- Michigan Coalition Against Genocide
- Palästina Forum Austria
- Friends of Sabeel North America
- Adalah Justice Project
- Tampa to Palestine
- Students for Justice in Palestine, Akron
- Midnight Grappler Animals Podcast
- Midnight Books
- Labor for Palestine
- Theater Workers for a Ceasefire
- Cultural Network for Palestine
- Palestinian Feminist Collective
Entertainment Labor for Palestine (EL4P) unites entertainment industry workers in solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation and against the oppression of marginalized and Indigenous peoples worldwide. Through strategic campaigns, political education, and community building, we elevate Palestinian voices and work to end our industry's complicity in Israel's crimes and its repression of pro-Palestine entertainment workers.
CODEPINK is a feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect resources into healthcare, education, green jobs, and other life-affirming programs.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world. We’re organizing a grassroots, multiracial, cross-class, intergenerational movement of U.S. Jews into solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle, guided by a vision of justice, equality, and dignity for all people.
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