Jenna Ortega voices her support for Palestine and demands to know ‘where is the humanity’ – just months after Scream VII co-star Melissa Barrera was fired for criticizing Israel

Jenna Ortega has called for a ceasefire in Gaza months after her former Scream VII co-star was fired for voicing support for Palestinians.

The Wednesday star posted a photo of a Palestinian family sitting in a field of flowers smiling, apparently before the October 7 Hamas attack prompted Israel’s invasion.

‘Masses debating over a ceasefire while thousands upon thousands of children continue being slaughtered. Where is the humanity,’ she wrote.

Ortega shared other pro-Palestinian content on her Instagram in recent days as Israel killed dozens of refugees in bombings of Rafah.

But this is the first time she posted about the conflict on her main feed and wrote a statement about the situation.

Ortega’s former Scream VII co-star Melissa Barrera was in November dumped from the horror film after making her own posts in support of Palestinians.

However, hers were more provocative than Ortega’s and were deemed ‘hate speech’ by production company Spyglass.

‘Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,’ she wrote in one Instagram story. 

‘Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water… People have learnt nothing from our histories. 

‘And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.’ 

Ortega posted a photo of a Palestinian family sitting in a field of flowers smiling, and asked ‘where is the humanity’ in the bombings killing them

Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in the film series, in other posts labeled Israel as a ‘colonized’ land and appeared to repeat an anti-Semitic trope about Jewish people controlling the media.

‘I too come from a colonized country,’ she wrote, adding a Mexican flag. ‘Palestine WIL be free.’

Another post complained she had been looking for videos from a Palestinian perspective to share, but couldn’t find any on her feed.

‘Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself… Censorship is very real,’ she wrote.

Spyglass did not hold back in its condemnation of the actress  in explaining why she was kicked off the film after anchoring its previous two installments.

‘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 crosses the line into hate speech,’ it said.

Ortega’s former Scream VII co-star Melissa Barrera was in November dumped from the horror film after making her own posts in support of Palestinians

Another post complained she had been looking for videos from a Palestinian perspective to share, but couldn’t find any on her feed

‘I too come from a colonized country,’ she wrote, adding a Mexican flag. ‘Palestine WIL be free.’

Director Christopher Landon, who has signed up to make the forthcoming film, distanced himself from the decision, saying: ‘Everything sucks. Stop yelling. This was not my decision to make.’

Barrera later made another post saying she ‘condemn[ed] Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people’.

However, she felt the need to use her platform, and that everyone on Earth ‘deserves equal human rights, dignity and, of course, freedom’.

Barrera has since then showed no restraint in posting and sharing content about Gaza.

Ortega said nothing about Barrera’s posts and was not posting about Gaza at the time, but threw the film into chaos the next day by pulling out.

Her management cited scheduling conflicts with the filming of Wednesday, but it was rumored to be about her salary.

Barrera later made another post saying she ‘condemn[ed] Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. I condemn hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people’

Barrera later told Rolling Stone she was ‘at peace’ with losing her spot on the film and it was too important to stay silent.

‘I’m not the first person that’s happened to, but it was shocking. I don’t even know what to say,’ she said.

‘I think everything that happened was very transparent, on both sides, and I know who I am, and I know that what I said always came from a place of love and a place of humanity and a place of human rights and a place of freedom for people, which shouldn’t be controversial. 

‘It shouldn’t be up for debate. So, I’m very at peace. The people who know me in my family know the truth about me and where I stand, and I think most people in the world also do.’ 

Rolling Stone asked of Ortega leaving the next day: ‘I know reports at the time claimed that she was already exiting, but that didn’t seem like the whole story. It seemed like there was some sisterhood-solidarity going on.’

Barrera replied: ‘Listen, Jenna is a good egg. She’s a good person and we love each other. She would show up for me and I would show up for her no matter what.’