People Protested at the ‘Scream 7’ Premiere and You Probably Know Why

I was ready to give up on the Scream franchise after the latest movie dropped almost three years ago. It was the first in the series that I thought was truly terrible. Not only was it lazy and inconsistent, but it also tried to tell me that Montreal was NYC and, like, nice try. Then, things took an even worse turn as one of the franchise’s new stars, Melissa Barrera, spoke out against the genocide in Gaza and was fired from the films. Jenna Ortega then dropped out of a potential sequel, leaving the series without its leads.

But, while I was ready to move on, Paramount was not. They still saw blood in that stone and were determined to make another one. So they fixed another mistake they had already made and threw a bunch of money at Neve Campbell to get her to come back. Though, to be clear, she wasn’t involved in the sixth movie because they tried to underpay her, despite her being the franchise star since the beginning. Like with its pursuit of Warner Bros., Paramount was dead set on making sure its plans weren’t upended, and that they could maybe make people forget what happened. They only succeeded in one of these endeavors.

Scream 7 had its premiere last night. Reviews are beginning to trickle in, and while some attention has been paid to the movie’s reception, most of the stories focus on the protests. A group of around 30 people gathered outside the Paramount Studios lot, where the premiere was held, and held signs and chanted in support of Palestine. That’s likely not what the studio wanted for a night meant to celebrate the new film, but I believe the achronym in this case would be “FAFO.”

Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original Scream and directed the newest one, responded to questions about the protests several times and was supportive of the group. “We live in America,” he told Deadline. “We have the right to protest. They have the right to be heard, and they have a right to speak to what your truth is, and I support that.” He’s not wrong. That said, there is a certain actress who may ask how true that is (though, to be fair, I don’t believe Williamson was involved in her firing).

Melissa Barrera took to her Instagram stories to send out a simple message that some see as one of support. “I see you,” she wrote, with a heart emoji. Barrera has no incentive to get involved at this point. She may not be as booked and blessed since being fired from Scream as we’d like, but she’s better off. Meanwhile, I just saw a headline for a review of the newest film, and it does not look kind. Speaking up for people can have its benefits.