Jenna Ortega says everyone in Hollywood wants to be politically correct: ‘We lose our humanity’

Actor speaks about Scream 6 costar Melissa Barrera being fired after social media posts in support of Palestinians in Gaza

Jenna Ortega has shared how she feels about the controversy surrounding her Scream 6 costar Melissa Barrera being fired from the film after making posts on social media in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Ortega, 21, said there is more emphasis on being “politically correct”, which takes away one’s sense of “integrity”.

“The business that we work in is so touchy-feely,” Ortega told Vanity Fair.

“Everybody wants to be politically correct, but I feel like, in doing that, we lose a lot of our humanity and integrity, because it lacks honesty.

“I wish that we had a better sense of conversation. Imagine if everyone could say what they felt and not be judged for it and, if anything, it sparked some sort of debate, not an argument. Am I describing world peace?”

In November last year, Barrera was dropped from Scream 7 after the film’s production company Spyglass Media found that some of her posts on social media could be perceived as antisemitic.

In one social media post, the In the Heights breakout star wrote: “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp.

“Cornering everyone together, with nowhere 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.”

Variety’s source suggested at the time that Barrera was fired over one post in particular that “floated an antisemitic trope that Jews control the media”. She wrote in an Instagram Story: “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”

Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in ‘Scream’ (Spyglass Media)

A day after Barrera was firing, Ortega exited the film, citing scheduling conflicts with Season 2 of Netflix series Wednesday.

A month later, in December, the film’s director Christopher Landon also announced his departure from the movie, telling fans that it had originally been a “dream job that turned into a nightmare”.

In the same interview, Ortega also reflected on the controversy she sparked after criticising the writing on Wednesday.

In 2023, Ortega told a podcast that she had been “almost unprofessional in a sense where I just started changing lines”.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday,” she said on Armchair Expert, adding: “Everything that Wednesday does – everything I had to play – did not make sense for her character at all.”

Writers called her “toxic” and “entitled”, and signs at the SAG-AFTRA strike directly called her out on her comments.

“I probably could have used my words better in describing all of that,” Ortega admitted.

“I think, oftentimes, I’m such a rambler. I think it was hard because I felt like had I represented the situation better, it probably would’ve been received better.”

Ortega will be seen next in the forthcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s long awaited sequel to 1988’s Beetlejuice. The film is being releasing in theatres on 4 September after premiering at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August.

Israel launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched an attack last October that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel. The militants also took more than 250 people hostage. Israel has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza so far, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. The fighting has displaced nearly 90 per cent of its 2.2 million population, according to the UN, and left around half a million facing starvation.