Jenna Ortega is only 21 years old, but she’s already making big waves in Hollywood, and not just because she’s a “well-loved actress.”
Ortega, best known for playing Wednesday Addams in the popular Netflix series “Wednesday” and Tara Carpenter in the last two “Scream” films, recently announced that she would “no longer be reprising her role in the upcoming ‘Scream’ film.”
Unfortunately, there’s been little explanation regarding her decision to part ways with the role. However, Ortega’s departure comes at a most uncanny moment.
“The day before it was announced that Jenna Ortega would not be returning to the next ‘Scream’ film, it was also announced that her co-star Melissa Barrera had actually been fired from the franchise,” says Lauren Chen.
The event, which has been trending on X, is so “politically charged because [Barrera] wasn’t let go for anything like inappropriate behavior on set or some crazy personal drama that was causing her to downward spiral,” explains Lauren, but rather for an “Instagram story post weighing in on the current conflict in the Middle East.”
Barrera posted:
Following the actress’ dismissal, Spyglass Media released the following statement:
“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crossed the line into hate speech.”
Lauren finds this response interesting, considering “Hollywood has slowly but surely been ramping up the political propaganda in their films and their series,” and actors these days are constantly “posing as activists.” Further, the issue over the conflict in the Middle East has people divided, even in Hollywood.
But the real question is, does Ortega’s departure have anything to do with Barrera’s dismissal? Naturally, many are suspicious that the actress’ decision to walk is her way of taking a stance against cancel culture or possibly even agreeing with Barrera’s comments.
However, according to reports, Ortega dropped the role “due to her busy filming schedule on the second season of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ and wrapping on filming for ‘Beetle Juice 2.’”
“That’s not what social media is buying,” says Lauren, however. “A lot of people on X specifically are completely convinced that actually Ortega leaving the project was a sign of solidarity with her co-star” and are “applauding” her decision as a means of “standing up against censorship and bullying.”
“Whatever the real reason for Ortega’s departure, I think we can’t deny that all of this is just going to hurt the next ‘Scream’ film,” Lauren says.
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